Fix You
by emmymay96
Summary: Maria Dixon is the youngest of the Dixon siblings, she's broken from the years of pain and torment that still haunt her. She thought that she would be forever broken, that no one would be able to fix her but that all changes when the apocalypse happens and she meets Glenn Rhee.
1. Chapter 1: The Start Of The End

**_Disclaimer \- I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own Maria and any other future OC's as well as any non canon storylines._**

 _ **Warnings \- Violence, Gore, Language and some mentions of abuse**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 - The Start Of The End**_

"Get me another beer!"

Will Dixon yelled to his youngest child Maria, Maria was 23 years old and still lived at home with her asshole of a father and her older brother Daryl they had another brother, Merle, but he got out a while ago and had his own place. Maria was planning on getting out as well, she wanted out of this hellhole as fast as possible but unfortunately renting a flat was expensive so she needed to save up money first.

She sighed as she got up to get another beer for her father if he had anymore she'd have to sneak out the house and join Daryl in hunting. Her fathers temper was short especially when he'd been drinking which was 90% of the time. When he would drink Maria and Daryl would sneak out the house together and go hunting in an attempt to avoid their fathers rage, the siblings spent most of their childhood in the woods tracking and hunting down animals. Daryl learnt to use a crossbow when he was 10 and Maria learnt how to use a bow, the woods were the only place where they felt safe.

However Maria didn't go with Daryl today as she needed to fill in job applications, she was filling out as many as she could in hopes that at least one person would employ her after she got fired from her last job at a cafe in town, let's just say Merle pissed of the manager and in return she got fired. It's hard enough finding a job in a small town but it was even harder when your last name is Dixon.

Maria made it to the fridge and pulled out a beer hurrying into the living room she quickly gave it to her father before going back to looking for jobs. She was searching through the paper when a news report about people attacking each other came on but she just shook her head thinking they were just drugged up idiots.

A knock sounded at the door before her uncle walked in, she immediately noticed that his arm was bleeding and rushed over.

"Uncle Rob? What happened?"

"I was out hunting with ya brother and some drunk guy in the woods attacked me, tore a chunk straight out of my arm"

She looked behind her uncle to see Daryl jogging up the drive his eyes wide with shock at what had happened. A heavy hand landed on her back making her flinch knowing who it was. Will Dixon stood there in a drunk haze eyes narrowed.

"Well we better go take care of 'em then, show me where they were" Daryl was about to say something but Will cut him off "no! Stay here with your sister, we need to talk when I get back"

Daryl huffed but complied going to stand next to his sister and their father grabbed his shotgun and followed their uncle. Maria was confused and even though she wouldn't admit it a little freaked out. She remembered the news she'd heard earlier about people in Atlanta attacking each other and biting and now her uncle had shown up with a bite.

"Ya okay?"

"Yeah it's just weird, heard a news report about people...um...biting each other, just thought it was drugs ya know?"

Daryl grunted "ain't like no drug I've ever seen before"

"What if it's not drugs, what if it's something else?"

"Like what?"

Maria just shrugged her shoulders "don't know"

A scream pierced the air, both Dixon siblings looked at each other before taking off in a sprint to the woods. When the arrived at the scene Maria clasped her hands over her mouth and tried to hold in the tears. Their uncle Rob was lying on the floor dead with a puddle of blood surrounding him, it looked like it was from the giant bite mark on his neck. Then her eyes wondered over to her father who was being eaten alive, Maria couldn't believe her eyes maybe her theory about it not being drugs was correct after all.

Will turned to face his two children mouthing a "help me" to them but neither moved. All of a sudden all those years of pain flashed through Maria's memory and she couldn't move, she didn't want too. After everything he'd done to them after all the pain and torment he put them through, why should they save him now? Maria knew she should feel guilty but she didn't, she was broken because of the man in front of her so why should she save him for he would just break her even more. Then another part of her a smaller part wanted to help, wanted to end his suffering but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Then a shot rang out killing the man that was eating her father, her head whipped round seeing Merle covered in blood splatter and stood there breathing heavy with a gun in his hand. She turned back around and walked over to her father staring down at him with an emotionless expression, her two brothers soon came to join her.

"So who wants to kill the prick" Daryl and Maria shot their brother a glare "oh come on he's dying already ain't nothing gonna save him now. Plus don't tell me that y'all never thought about it"

Maria had in fact thought about it on those dark nights after her father let his anger out on her in his drunken haze, or the nights when she could hear him doing the same to Daryl or Merle from behind her closed bedroom door. She didn't feel the brunt of her fathers anger as much as her brothers but that was only because they took the pain for her, it was on those nights that she wished she could just do it, but she never did. She had the chance to do it now to finally kill the person who had ruined their lives, but she still couldn't pick up the gun.

"Fine then ya bunch of pussys I'll do it" Merle raised the gun to their fathers head "rot in hell old man"

He pulled the trigger as Maria flinched and turned her head away from the gruesome scene. She felt a flicker of sadness within her at the fact they had lost their only remaining parent and their uncle Rob, but she pushed it away as they had bigger things to deal with.

"Merle what's going on?"

He just looked at his little sister muttering "I need some booze" before storming towards the house.

Maria and Daryl shared a glance before hurrying to follow Merle, if Merle was freaked out it meant that they needed to be worried. Entering the house they found Merle chugging down a beer before he threw the bottle smashing it against the wall.

"The hell Merle! What's going on with you?" Daryl asked

"Bro I've seen some crazy shit today. People eating people, people coming back from the dead"

"Oh for god sake Merle are you high again!" Maria demanded

"Shut up sis! Ain't had nothin for a couple days!" He paused running a hand through his hair "my friend was bitten, he died a couple hours later. Next morning I wake up to him tryin to eat me! So I shot him point blank in the fucking chest"

"Merle you-"

"Quiet I ain't finished yet! He gets back up so I shot him in the head and he stays dead. I ain't got no clue what the fucks going on but something ain't right" Merle mumbles before taking another beer out of the fridge.

"Do you have to drink so much?" Merle looked at Maria and sighed putting the bottle down, he knew she didn't like people drinking around her and he understood why. Anyone else who told him to stop would've been punched but not her. Even if Merle didn't show it he cared about his little sister.

"Wait I saw something on the news earlier about people attacking and biting each other" Maria suddenly remembered as she rushed into the living room and turned on the TV. The news popped up, it was an emergence government report.

"We don't know what's causing this, all we know is that people who are bitten by those infected will turn, that's how the infection spreads. We plead you not to go near anyone that has been infected. We are setting up a safe zone in Atlanta while the military try and get control of the situation, there will be food, shelter and medical treatment for everyone."

Maria stood there in shock not believing what she was seeing was real, how could this be happening?. Her brother was right, they needed to go down to Atlanta she didn't feel safe here anymore not knowing that there was more of those infected people in the woods.

"We should go, it would be safe for us there"

"She right Merle, just until this whole thing blows over"

Merle thought for a moment before nodding his head "fine, get all the supplies and weapons into the truck, just I case this whole thing doesn't blow over"

Maria quickly rushed upstairs to her room pulling out a large backpack and filling it with what little she owned. She put in a couple of shirts, two more pairs of jeans, a hoodie and then a photo of her, Merle and Daryl. She looked at the photo smiling, she was in the middle of the two brothers who had their arms wrapped around her shoulders. Her and Daryl were wearing bright smiles and you could just about make out the tiniest smile on Merle's face as well. She smiled at the memory of that day, it was her 21st birthday and Daryl and Merle had taken her camping for the weekend, she had insisted that they take a family photo as they didn't really have any and the brothers reluctantly obliged.

""Hey Mar you ready to go!" Daryl shouted from downstairs. She quickly shoved the photo into her backpack and reached under the bed to grab her hunting bow and arrows, just in case. She rushed downstairs and saw Daryl stood there with his bag.

"Give me ya bag I'll take it out while you get food and stuff from the kitchen"

Maria nodded and handed her bag to Daryl, she went into the kitchen and started to fill a box with whatever they had which wasn't a lot. A couple cans of soup, some crisps and 6 bottles of water. She was normally the one that did the shopping but this week they had only had enough to pay all the bills which normally resulted in her and Daryl hunting for anything they could fine.

A car horn sounding from outside made Maria jump out of her thoughts and rush to pack the rest of the things before hurriedly grabbing her leather jacket and rushing outside. She quickly made her way to the truck and placed the box inside while grabbing a bottle of water for the journey. She noticed that only Daryl was in the truck, looking around she finally spotted Merle at the top of the drive sat on his motorbike waiting impatiently.

"Maria hurry up and get your ass in the truck!" He yelled angrily at her. She quickly did what he asked sliding into the passenger seat. Daryl started up the truck and started on their way to the "safe zone". Maria hoped that this safe zone was real and that the situation would blow over quickly, but something inside her was telling her that it wasn't going to happen that this was only just the beginning of worse things to come.

* * *

 ** _A/N - I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, let me know what you think!_**

 ** _Also I would just like to say that I love Glaggie but I just really wanted to do a Glenn/OC fic and this idea just popped in my head a couple weeks ago and I really wanted to write it. Don't worry I have someone else in mind for Maggie :)_**

 ** _Thank you for reading!_**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	2. Chapter 2: Road To Atlanta

_**Chapter 2 - Road To Atlanta**_

They had been sat in the car for hours now and Maria was starting to get impatient, the sun was setting and they were still an hour away from getting there. Maria was scared although she wouldn't show it in front of her brothers, she hated the fact that they didn't know what was going on. Today had been a long day and all she wanted to do was sleep but ever time she closed her eyes all she could see was that thing eating her father.

About half an hour later they found themselves stuck behind an RV on the highway, it was clear that no one was going to be moving soon so Maria reached for the handle of the passengers side door.

"The hell are you going?" Daryl demanded being the protective older brother he was and considering the events of earlier that day he didn't reall want to let her out of his sight.

"We've been stuck in this car for hours Daryl, I need to get out and stretch my legs, get some fresh air" Maria sighed when she saw Daryl give her the famous Dixon stare "I promise I won't go far, okay?"

Daryl reluctantly nodded as she moved to quickly get out of the truck. She was happy that she could finally stretch her legs and feel the breeze on her face. She looked around and saw that most people had gotten out of their cars at this point probably trying to figure out what was going on. Maria let her thoughts wonder to what would happen when they reached the Atlanta safe zone, she hoped that they would finally get real answers to all of this and why people were killing each other. If what Merle said earlier was true then these weren't just people they were supposedly dead people.

She was pulled from her thoughts by planes flying by overhead, she looked up noticing they were military planes and wondering if they were dropping supplies into Atlanta for everyone. Her question was soon answered though and her thoughts couldn't have been more wrong, they were dropping bombs on the city. She stood there in shock just watching as the military continued to drop bombs all her hope of a safe zone shattering. She couldn't help but think of all the innocent people that were down there and suddenly here fear turned to anger, anger at the people who said everything would be okay, anger at the government for letting this happen and anger at herself for believing them. She couldn't take watching anymore so she ran back to Daryl's truck sliding into the passengers seat and slamming the door closed. Maria looked over at Daryl who was giving her a look of sympathy he knew she was scared so he squeezed her shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay Mar, we'll find somewhere else to go"

She turned to Daryl angered "no Daryl we won't! Clearly this is beyond the government control if they're bombing cities and innocent people. We're screwed!"

A knock came at her window startling Maria, she turned to see a tall man with Dark curly hair standing there. Confused she slowly rolled down the window,

"Hi folks, a few of us are planning on going to a quarry it's a couple of miles away, pretty secluded"

"And?" Maria asked a hint of annoyance in her voice

"Just letting you know In case you wanted to come with, you know where it is?"

"Yeah thanks" the man still continued to stare at her "goodbye then" Maria rolled up her window turning to face her brother who raised his eyebrow at her "he was creeping me out staring at me like that, so you think this quarry is a good idea"

Daryl just shrugged "secluded, water and a forest to hunt in why not? Sure we can put up with these people for a while"

"Okay but I'm staying far away from Mr Creeper over there. I best go tell Merle" she hopped out the truck immediately spotting Merle by the RV talking to some blonde woman who looked liked she'd rather be anywhere else right now. She slowly walked up to him, she wanted to get his attention but didn't really want the attention of the others standing around. She may have been a Dixon but she was much more introverted and shy then her brothers though she was just as tough as them. When she reached Merle she gently pulled his arm but he just shook her off

"Not now little sis I'm getting somewhere here"

The blonde woman scoffed "no you weren't" before she turned and walked away back into the RV. Merle turned around to face his sister

"Ah sis look what ya did, always gotta ruin ma game"

"Merle ya ain't got no game to ruin, plus we're planning on following them to the quarry not to far away from here so please don't piss anyone off"

"Whatever lil sis let's just get going I'm tired" Merle walked away from her and got back on his bike ruffling her hair as he went. Maria groaned fixing her hair before getting back in the truck. They saw an arm wave out the window of the RV as it pulled out of the line of traffic, cars then started following it and when the last car passed Daryl followed behind Merle as they headed to the quarry.

Maria was nervous about going to the quarry and being in close proximity to so many people, she didn't really like people or having to talk to them. Being shy was one of the reasons but the other reason was that she didn't want to get close to people she was afraid that if people got close they would see how messed up and broken she was inside and she didn't want them to see her as weak. The only people that she let close to her were her brothers and she intended to keep it that way.

Roughly an hour later they had all finally made it to the quarry, Daryl parked the truck away from everyone's else's vehicles and she jumped out the passenger seat as she saw everyone gathering. She didn't go over however, she just stood leaning again the closed passenger door where she could just about hear what was being said.

"It's still dark out, so we'll stay in our cars tonight and set up camp properly tomorrow as well as introducing everyone" they creepy guy from earlier said

Daryl leaned over to whisper to his sister "who put mr creeper in charge"

Maria let out a snort of laughter causing some of the group to look her way, she quickly looked down shuffling her feet slightly at the unwanted attention she had caused.

The guy coughed before saying "y'all go ahead and get some sleep, we'll keep turns in watching for any of those...things"

Everyone hurried back to their cars it probably wouldn't be the comfiest night sleep but it was too late to set up a camp now. Merle walked over to stand beside Daryl "who put that prick in charge? I ain't takin' orders from no one but me"

"Relax Merle we probably won't be here for long anyway" Daryl mumbled as he headed back towards the drivers side. Merle turned to his sister

"You okay with taking orders from that prick"

Maria just shrugged "I don't wanna argue Merle it's been a long day can we please just sleep" tomorrow was going to be a busy day and she wanted to get as much rest as she could.

Merle just huffed at her before heading towards the bed of the truck hopping in and making himself comfortable. Maria sighed and got back into the passengers seat, she curled up into a ball and rested her head on the window before falling into a restless sleep filled with nightmares.

* * *

 ** _A/N: sorry that this chapter is so short but I hope you enjoyed it! Make sure to let me know what you think :)_**

 ** _Quinzel Love - Thank you for the review! Hope you continue to enjoy the story :)_**

 ** _Holly2605 - Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)_**

 ** _Thank you to everyone that has followed and favourited_**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	3. Chapter 3: Camp

_**Chapter 3 - Camp**_

The next morning Maria was rudely awakened from her restless slumber by a knock at the passenger window. Her eyes slowly blinked open adjusting to the the sunlight, she could hear Daryl mumbling choice words from next to her. Looking to the left she saw the same guy from last night and mumbled a curse before rolling down the window.

"Morning folks, we're having breakfast and making introductions before setting up camp. Care to join us?"

Maria stared at him with a blank face she didn't really want to meet new people but she knew that eventually she'd have too, after all they would be living together at least for a while. Without saying a word Maria opened her door pushing the guy out the way, she slammed it behind her and turned to face the man crossing her arms.

The man coughed awkwardly before talking "well I'm Shane, it's nice to meet you?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake but she ignored it

"Maria"

"Maria huh? That's a nice name" he smiled as she tried her hardest not to cringe

Suddenly Daryl shoved between the two of them staring Shane down, he was definitely not happy that someone was trying to flirt with his sister.

"Names Daryl and that's my little sister you're hitting on" he got closer to Shane's face "So I suggest you back the fuck off"

Shane squared off against Daryl ready to defend himself if needed. Maria rubbed her forehead in frustration they'd only been here five minutes and already one of her brothers was picking a fight with a guy who just said her name was "nice". She then let out a frustrated growl when she heard Merle's voice sound from behind her,

"We got a problem here lil brother? Do I gotta kick his ass?" Merle stood beside her flinging an arm around her shoulder clearly letting Shane know that this was not gonna go his way.

"Nah man no problems here, just wanted y'all to come to breakfast and meet everyone"

Merle smirked "we'll be right there for you're little sing song around the camp fire"

Shane just nodded his head looking everywhere but at Maria as he started to walk away back towards the gathering crowd of people. Maria looked at her brothers with a scowl on her face clearly displeased with the way they handled that interaction, out of all the Dixon's she was the most level headed and rational.

"What? Mr creepy was clearly checking you out and I am not gonna let that happen. You ain't getting a boyfriend yet especially not him" Daryl pointed his thumb over his shoulder

"I know and trust me I have no interest in him but we need to get along with these people, we have to live with them after all so please be nice" she pleaded

Merle ruffled her hair "when aren't I nice little sis"

He started to make his way towards the group and Maria was definitely not convinced that he was going to be nice but there was nothing she could do about it, Merle was just...Merle. She turned to face Daryl giving him a stare that said "you better behave or you'll have me to deal with" Daryl just held his hands up knowing that when his sister got angry she could get damn scary. He placed an arm over her shoulder in reassurance as they made their way towards the group.

When they got there an elderly man handed them some cereal bars and a bottle of water that Maria declined as she had water in her bag. Shane then cleared his throat gaining everyone's attention.

"Alright everyone so why don't we just go round say our names and some information about yourselves that's useful to deciding what job you'll do around camp"

"So what this is like circle time or some shit?" Merle blurted out and Maria just wished that she was invisible as all eyes turned to the trio, however Shane just ignored the outburst and continued

"Well I'm Shane Walsh and I was a cop"

Merle snorted "great a pig"

Maria elbowed Merle in the ribs sending him a glare for once again gaining people stares. Merle just shrugged at her.

"Alright then seems as you like talkin' what about you?"

Merle laughed "well I'm Merle, this here is ma little brother and sister Daryl and Maria. And well I did a lot of thing but if I told ya you'd have to arrest me officer"

Maria spoke quickly to fill the awkward silence "I can hunt, didn't really have a proper job before this put I guess hunting is my best skill, Daryl's pretty good too"

Shane just nodded his head at her clearly unsure if he should believe her or not. Maria just looked down to the ground while fiddling with her fingers nervously as she felt people's gazes burn into her, she was pretty sure they were judging her and her brothers but that was something she was used too. Finally a tall woman with long brown hair got everyone's attention by introducing herself as Lori, she also introduced her son Carl who had apparently just lost his father. Maria could somewhat sympathise with the boy as she too had just lost her father.

During the next 10 minutes the rest of the group introduced themselves. There was Dale who owned the RV he had picked up two other members of the group Amy and Andrea (the girl Merle was hitting on last night) who were sisters, Maria quite liked Dale he didn't look at her with judgemental eyes like the others. Then there was Ed, Carol and their daughter Sophia, Maria definitely didn't like the look of Ed his cold hard stare sent unpleasant chills down her spine. Then there was Jim, Jacqui and the Morales family along with a couple others, Maria thought that most of the sounded like alright people although she knew that they would be the outcasts, the Dixon's always were. That was mainly due to Merle, he constantly offended other people and annoyed them with his attitude and his anger was another problem altogether. Daryl was a lot more calm than Merle although his anger could be just as bad and just as early provoked, Maria's anger was just as bad as her brothers though you wouldn't think it with how quiet and introverted she could be, due to this it also took a lot more to get her anger to raise its ugly head.

Once everyone was finished introducing themselves Shane said that they should all start setting up camp and pulling all their supplies together. On their way back to the truck Merle spoke up

"I don't see why we're listening to that prick, who put him in charge anyway"

"Merle please don't make a scene okay? We have to live and work with these people now so at least try to be a team player, for me" she looked up at Merle giving him her best puppy eyes that always managed to melt his heart a tiny bit.

Merle grumbled under his breath befor responding "fine but if anyone pisses me off its not my fault"

Maria gave a small smile as she knew that was the best she would get out of him, he never really listened to anyone except her sometimes. When she got to the truck she grabbed her back out the back and made her way over to the RV where they were collecting and storing all the food, she slowly made her was over to Dale clearing her throat to get his attention

"Um I have some food and water, should I just leave it here?"

The old man turned to her with a small smile on his face "thank you very much Maria was?"

She nodded "yeah it's not much just a couple tins of soup and some crisps it was all we had"

"Anything is better than nothing, thank you. Oh and you can keep the water there's a lake just down there so finding more won't be hard" he took the cans from her and placed them into a box with all the others before turning to her again "do you have a tent?"

She shook her head no and he sighed "damn we'll need to find some from somewhere then, not everyone has one" he looked round as if he was looking for someone before calling "hey Shane!"

Shane turned from his conversation with Lori "yeah Dale"

"We'll need to make a run somewhere, we don't have a lot of tents and this food won't last more than a week. Plus we could do with some other supplies"

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea, does anyone know anywhere?"

By this point most of the group had gathered round the RV to see what was going on. After a moment of silence Maria quietly cleared her throat "um I know somewhere, it's a camping/hunting store just outside the city I got there a lot with my brothers"

She nervously rubbed her arm as she noticed all the eyes on her "I could um take you there but one of my brothers would have to come"

Shane seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding his head "sounds like a plan, can you use a gun?"

"Not really but I'm pretty good with a bow if any of those...things show up" it was true Maria was a damn near prefect shot with a bow, she never missed her target.

"Sounds good to me, so just you and me?"

"And Daryl" she clarified not wanting him to believe it would just be the two of them plus she really didn't want to be alone with him. A look of anger quickly crossed Shane's face before it disappeared and he just nodded once at her.

"Fine, the three of us will go in the morning see what we can find"

With that said Maria went to the truck where Daryl and Merle were sorting out their thinks, she was nervous about telling them but she knew she had too, after all she volunteered Daryl to go with them. Honestly the main reason she wanted to go was to get out of camp for a while, they hadn't even been here a day and already she felt sufivated by all these people around her. She approached Daryl courteously

"So I volunteered to take Shane to the camping store that's just outside Atlanta" she thought there was no point in beating around the bush about it so she came right out and said it.

Both brothers dropped what they were holding and turned to her and exclaiming at the same time "what?!"

"Before you get your panties in a twist I kinda said that Daryl would come too"

"Awh man why you gotta volunteer me for shit Mar?!" Daryl grumbled

"And why didn't you say old Merle instead huh?"

"Okay firstly because I didn't want to be alone with mr creepy out there and secondly Merle I didn't want you causing any trouble with him, we need these supplies" she rubbed her arm and turned away from her brothers in slight embarrassment of what she was about to say "plus I need to get out of here, too many people, it's suffocating"

Daryl gave Maria a sympathetic look, he knew that she didn't do well around people especially big crowds of them. "Fine I'll come with ya but you owe me"

"Thanks Dar" she smiled softly at her older brother as he went back to sorting out his things. She found herself getting nervous about tomorrow a bunch of thoughts worming their way into her head, she couldn't help but think of what would happen if they came across one of those things she knew she would have to kill it but she wasn't sure if she could, after all they were human.

The rest of the day was spent sorting out the camp and making small talk to people who passed by. There wasn't really much anyone could do until they got more supplies tomorrow. When night came everyone sat round a fire a man named T-Dog had built in the middle of camp, everyone that is except the three Dixon siblings who decided to eat in the bed of their truck where the sleeping bags were. They were having a discussion about tomorrow and Merle was telling her that she better comeback unharmed or he'd "kick officer pricks ass into the ground" which caused her to laugh. Merle may be an asshole sometimes but he did care about his family and he would do anything to protect them.

The next morning they got up early to get ready for their run to the camping store. Maria grabbed her bow and arrows and strapped them to her back as Daryl grabbed his crossbow. Merle watched over to them

"If you come back with so much as a scratch I'll-"

"Yes Merle I know, you'll kill him"

Merle chuckled and pulled her into a one armed hug "that's good little sis, now you better get back quickly I don't wanna be alone with these people too long"

Maria and Daryl just nodded before turning away and heading towards Shane's jeep. They wanted to take take their truck but Shane insisted that they should all ride together.

"Y'all ready to go" Shane called slinging the shotgun onto his shoulder

"Yeah" was their only reply. Before Shane could say anything else Daryl hopped into the passenger seat as Maria hopped into the the back, it was clear by the look on his face that Shane wasn't happy with the seating arrangements but Daryl had insisted that he didn't want her sitting next to Shane. After staring at the two siblings for a moment Shane got in the truck,

"You all be careful now!" They heard Dale yell, Maria turned round and gave the old man a thumbs up as Shane started the engine and pulled away from camp. Maria let the wind whip through her hair as she relaxed slightly at the fact she was away from all those people, although in here stomach she felt a pang of worry for what was awaiting them out there.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think! Next chapter I'll be introducing a special someone ;)**_

 _ **Holly2605 - Thank you for the review! I'm excited to write her and Glenn's first meeting!**_

 _ **Speedy-Skye - Thank you for the reviews! I haven't decided if I'm gonna leave Glenn alive yet but I probably will because I miss him so much :(**_

 _ **Addicted2memories - Thank you so much! I'm glad that you are enjoying it so far**_

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this story!**_

 _ **\- Emily x**_


	4. Chapter 4: Who The Hell Are You?

_**Chapter 4 - Who The Hell Are You?**_

The drive to the camping store was awkward to say the least, Shane had tried to make small talk but the Dixon siblings had ignored him or in Daryl's case just gave grunts in reply, so the man decided to remain silent. Maria just sat in the backseat ignoring everything else and taking in the scenery she was thinking about how quickly the world had gone to shit. Her world was already shit before all this even happened, in her eyes this new world was just another thing to add to the ever growing list of bad things she'd been through.

"Turn left here, it's just up here on the right" Daryl said breaking Maria out of her thoughts.

Shane turned left and within less than a minute he was parking the car and turning to face them. "We go in get what we need and get out, no delays and if you see one of those things holler"

"Yes officer, can we go now?" Maria grumbled just wanting to get this over with. The street they were on seemed to be quiet too quiet for Maria's liking but at least they hadn't seen any of those dead people. Maria grabbed her bow and readied it as they made their way to the shop. Shane stopped as they got to the door, his hand resting on the handle.

"What's wrong?" Maria questioned

"Just doesn't feel right is all, feels like I'm breaking the law"

Dary scoffed at that last comment "worlds gone to shit ya need to get used to it. Now are we doing this or not?"

Maria could see Shane glaring at Daryl but ignored it not wanting to course a scene. Shane slowly opened the door and raised his shot gun as he looked round the store with Maria close behind him. Once they had determined that the store was clear Shane turned to face the two siblings. "We split up, meet back here in 5"

Shane didn't wait for conformation as he began strolling to one side of the store. Daryl then turned to Maria "you stay as close as you can got it?"

"Yes Dar I know" Maria rolled her eyes st her overly protective older brother, she loved him for it but sometimes his over protectiveness could be annoying. He still treated her like his little 10 year old sister when she was a fully grown adult who was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Maria walked to the back of the store where she found a glass case full of different types of knives from pocket to hunting. She thought about breaking the glass but thought better of it as it could attract unwanted attention. She was thinking about how else it could be opened when her eyes spotted a door marked office in the far right hand corner, if there were keys she'd bet they were in there.

She drew her bow as and slowly started to head in the direction of the office, one there she grabbed the door handle and let out a breath of relief upon finding it unlocked. As she slowly opened the door she checked the room, seeing nothing she quietly moved in lowering her bow. Her eyes swept around the room until they stopped on a pair of keys laying on the desk, "well that was easy" she mumbled to herself as she strode over and picked them up.

Maria turned around and upon seeing someone there hidden behind the door she screamed, dropping the keys and raising her bow in case he was a threat. The young Asian man wearing a cap held up his hands and stammered "please don't shoot! I'm not one of them I swear I just wanted supplies and...and, please don't kill me"

"Why were you hiding behind the door?" Maria asked not lowering her bow or taking her eyes off him.

"You scared me! I thought you were one of those" she saw the young man gulp slightly "can you please lower the bow?"

Maria did as he asked before Daryl and Shane came barging in the room demanding to know what was going on. Maria just explained that the guy had given her s fright and that was all.

"So what's ya name boy" Daryl asked still keeping a wary eye on the stranger

"G-Glenn, Glenn Rhee"

"You out here all by yourself?" Shane was the next one to question him, poor Glenn looked absolutely terrified and Maria felt slightly sorry for him.

"Yeah it's just me, I came here to get a sleeping bag and tent, was gonna head somewhere secluded ya know"

Shane just nodded at the scared male before he got this look on his face like he was thinking of something. Maria was also thinking, she was thinking that maybe they should bring him back she felt bad that he was out here alone.

"Why don't you come back with us?" Maria looked to Shane "that would be okay right?"

Daryl scoffed clearly not liking her idea but a glare from the younger woman soon stopped whatever comment he was about to make. Shane on the other hand just shrugged his shoulders like he didn't care, Maria sighed at the two males in front of her before turning to face Glenn. "Get all you need we leave in 10 minutes, it's the jeep out front"

Glenn looked over at the two men clearly still anxious about the situation he had found himself in, he then turned back to Maria giving a small smile "uh thanks, that would be great"

Maria just nodded at him before exiting the room followed by Daryl. He clearly wasn't happy with the fact that she had just invited a stranger back to camp but Maria didn't care, they were all technically still strangers to each other.

Daryl grabbed Maria's arm as the was unlocking the knife cabinet "why'd you invite him back? Just another mouth to feed Mar"

Maria didn't even turn to look at him as she picked up a knife and placed it in her bag "because he's all alone Daryl I couldn't just leave him here could I?"

"Could've" Maria shot Daryl a warning look and he just held up his hands in surrender "fine then, sometimes I wonder how a Dixon managed to grow up with such a kind heart"

Maria smiled slightly everyone was always surprised that the quiet little Dixon girl had such a kind heart due to the fact that the rest of her family weren't like that at all. Although she did have a bad side like her brothers however she didn't show it often only when someone threatened her family.

"You have a kind heart too Dar, you just don't like to show it" she smiled as Daryl just scoffed at her before moving to a different part of the store. Maria continued looking at the knives as she felt someone come up behind her

"Um hi" Glenn awkwardly waved "I just wanted to say thank you again"

"Stop saying thank you" Maria felt there was no need for "thank you's" now, she just did what anyone would've done. She looked over at the shy man who was now shuffling his feet "you got a weapon"

"What?"

"Do you have a weapon? Gonna need one if ya don't"

Glenn scratched the back of his neck out of nervous ness "uh n-no I don't"

Maria looked at the collection of knives before picking up a large pocket green pocket knife and handing it to him "here take this one"

"Oh I don't-"

"You'll need it just in case you come across one of those things out there, you can't talk them to death ya know" Glenn laughed slightly placing the knife in his pocket.

"Thank you"

"No problem, you got everything? It's almost time to go" she said picking up her pack that was full of knives and other things they may need for camp. Even though she wanted the space from all the new people she was anxious to get back to Merle he always had a way of finding trouble. Usually he'd start talking and somehow get punched if she wasn't there to shut him up, she loved her brother but sometimes he could be a real pain in the ass.

"Hey you two!" Shane called out "ready to go?"

"Yeah!" She yelled back turning to see Glenn picking up his backpack before following out the store. They all threw their bags in the back of the truck before getting in the same seats as before, except this time Glenn was in the back next to Maria. Shane started the jeep as Maria leaned her head on the window. After about five minutes of driving Maria felt a slight tap on her shoulder, looking to the left she saw Glenn staring at her.

"Yes?"

"I um forgot to ask your name"

"It's Maria, Maria Dixon"

"Maria? That's a beau - I-I mean cool, that's a cool name" the young man laughed nervously as Maria raised an eyebrow at him

"Thanks...I guess"

"I'm Glenn Rhee, but you already knew that I told you earlier and now I'm rambling, sorry I ramble when I'm nervous my mother used to say that-"

Maria placed a hand over his mouth effectively stopping the poor mans rambling. "Please stop talking" Glenn looked at her and nodded his head before Maria slowly removed her hand. She had to admit that the rambling was adorable but she was getting a slight headache from it all.

"Thank god" Daryl mumbled. Maria hit the back of his head lightly in a way of telling him to shut up before she turned to face Glenn again.

"We'll be back soon, Shane will introduce you to everyone, he's the one that does all that kinda stuff"

"I'm grateful, promise that I'll help out in any way possible"

Maria smiled slightly at Glenn before turning back to the window. She was glad that Glenn had decided to come back with them he seemed nice and someone that she could maybe get along with. There aren't many people at camp that are around her age only Amy but she spent all her time with Andrea.

Going up the hill back to camp she could just see everyone either preparing dinner or sitting round talking. Worry started to set in as she didn't see Merle anywhere.

Hopping out the car Maria went over to Dale as Shane introduced Glenn to the rest of the group. They all seemed to like him so far which was a good sign.

"Hey Dale, have you seen Merle anywhere?"

"Yeah saw him go into the woods about 15 minutes ago"

Maria thanked Dale and headed straight for the woods. She knew what her brother was doing and she was going to kick his ass when she found him. After only a couple minutes of searching she found her older brother leaning against a tree, he was clearly high.

"Ay baby sis! You back already?"

Maria didn't say anything she took long strides over to Merle before slapping him "how dare you! You promised you weren't gonna do that shit, especially when I was around!"

"Woah chill out sis, here have some maybe it will stop you from being so up tight"

Maria knocked the small bag of meth out of Merle's hands, her eyes glared at him furiously "fuck you Merle, you know exactly why o don't do shit like that"

And with that said Maria stormed off away from Merle hearing him yell "bitch" at her which she chose to ignore. She hated drugs and for a very good reason, a friend of Merle's had beaten her once and Merle was too high to even give s shit said that she shouldn't have pissed the guy off. All she did was refuse to sleep with him and ever since then Maria never went back to Merle's flat. Merle himself had apologised endlessly even beat the guy so badly he ended up in the hospital but Maria still couldn't forget what happened.

Walking back into camp she walked passed Glenn "You okay Maria?"

"Just leave me alone" she snapped back. Part of her felt bad for snapping at him but right now she couldn't take it all she wanted to do was get her tent set up so she could hide away from the world. So that's what she did she grabbed a tent and started setting it up away from all the others completely ignoring what was going on around her. Once done she grabbed her stuff and placed it in her small one person tent.

She didn't feel like going back out to join everyone for dinner so she just sat there and let all the emotions out that had been building up inside her the past couple days. The dead coming back to life, her father and uncle dying and finding out Merle was still on drugs. She cried for what felt like hours only just hearing someone set something down in her tent. She didn't care though she just wanted to sit and cry until she fell to sleep.

* * *

 ** _A/N: finally a new chapter! I hope you all had a good New Year :) let me know what you think of this chapter, Maria and Glenn finally met :D I also have the whole of season 1 for this story planned out now so onto planning season 2 which I'm so excited about._**

 ** _Holly2605 - Thank you for the review!_**

 ** _Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed this story so far!_**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	5. Chapter 5: Friends?

_**Chapter 5 - Friends?**_

It had been two weeks since Maria, Daryl and Shane went on a trip to the camping store. Camp was looking good, everyone had their own tents and a trip wire was now in place. The camp was starting to form a routine and everyone had jobs. The women did laundry and cooking, the men protected the camp and the Dixon's hunted for meat.

Glenn had settled in well immediately making friends with almost everyone, he was a friendly and caring person although he was shy at times. Maria on the other hand spent most of her time with her brothers avoiding everyone else. The only other person she talked to was Dale, he had somewhat taken her under his wing and was teaching her mechanics. They also talked about books together which is what they were doing now while sat on top of the RV overlooking the camp.

"So Maria, who's your favourite author?"

Maria answered without hesitation "Stephen King. What about you?"

"Well I was always more a fan of the classics like Dickens myself"

"I never really got to read that stuff, I only became a fan of King because I found a copy of IT abandoned at school" If her father had found out she was reading he probably would've burnt all the books she had. Apparently reading is something a Dixon shouldn't be doing. Once he'd found her reading Carrie and immediately burnt it, it was safe to say that the pain she felt that night indicated how much it had infuriated him. After that she made sure to only read in the woods and hide her books there.

"If you don't mind me asking why? Surely your parents would be encouraged it"

"Not mine" Maria whispered sadly pulling her knees up to her chest. Dale could see that she was getting upset so decided to change the topic.

"You know I might have a Stephen King book in my collection you could borrow" he began to get up as Maria protested but Dale wasn't having any of it "I'll be back in a minute" and with that he disappeared down the ladder leaving Maria alone.

It was strange to her, talking to Dale. In the short time she'd known him he'd become the sort of father figure to her. She found him easy to talk to and was the only one that had made an effort to talk to her, except Glenn of course. Glenn talked to her but every time he did she felt uncomfortable for some reason, maybe because she never really had friends her own age before. All her "friends" were normally Daryl's friends and they only tolerated her because she was Daryl's little sister.

"Hey" a voice said startling Maria from her thoughts. She looked over to the ladder seeing Glenn climbing up with a book in his hand. "Dale wanted me to give this to you"

He held out a copy of Stephen Kings _The Shining_ to her as she smiled softly and took it. Although she was wondering why he was bringing this to her instead of Dale.

"Where's Dale?"

"Oh he needed to look at the generator. He said he'd bring you some lunch back"

Maria just nodded silently and went back to staring at the woods in front of them. She felt like she should start a conversation with him but had no idea how. Luckily for her Glenn was the one that spoke first

"How come I never see you talking to anyone? No offence but you seem like an interesting person" Glenn stuttered out

"Guess people judge me based on my brothers. No one wants to get to know me except Dale"

"I do" Glenn blurted out before casting his eyes down to the ground "you just look lonely sometimes and well I-"

"So you want to get to know me out of pity is that it?" Maria was getting angry, was he really only talking to her because he felt sorry for her?

"N-no that's not-" but before Glenn could continue Maria stood up and headed towards the ladder

"I don't need your pity Rhee. If that's all this is then leave me alone" and with that she was gone, leaving behind a confused Glenn.

Glenn hadn't meant it to sound like that he was genuinely interested in getting to know Maria. He had heard her talking to Dale a couple of times about mechanics and books and he found her interesting. But now he'd gone and messed it up with her.

"Glenn? Where's Maria I bought her lunch" Dale announced as he reached the top of the ladder.

Sighing Glenn took his cap off and ran his hand through his messed up hair "I messed up Dale. I just wanted to get to know her"

Dale sat down and placed a hand on the young mans shoulder "what I've learnt about Maria is that she doesn't like to be pitied. She also isn't very good with people from what I've seen"

"Do you think I should try again?"

"Not right now. You know I don't think she's had any real friends before. Try to be her friend Glenn get her to open up a bit, you might actually be good for her" Glenn smiled and thanked Dale before continuing to take watch and chat about random things with the old man.

* * *

Maria was sat on a log near her tent cleaning her arrows from the hunt the previous day. She couldn't stop thinking about what Glenn had said to her, yes she was lonely but she didn't need it to be pointed out to her. She somewhat regretted how short she'd been with the young man earlier but lately due to the anxiety her temper had gotten worse. It was the true Dixon in her showing and she hated it.

"Hey little sister what's got you so down" Merle said coming to sit beside her on the log.

"Nothin' Merle I'm fine" Maria snapped as she continued to furiously scrub the blood and dirt off her arrows. She was still pissed at Merle for taking drugs the other week and knew he would do it again not giving a shit what she would say.

"Looks to me like someone pissed you off? Was it the old guy? Do I gotta kick some ass because I'd be happy too"

"No Merle and I swear if you ask one more time this arrow is going up your ass!" Maria snapped. She'd come over here to get away from everyone not have her brother practically interrogate her about her mood. Merle held up his hands in surrender "woah there someone's cranky today"

Not being able to stand listening to Merle voice anymore Maria picked up her bow and arrows and stormed off towards the small take that was located about 5 minutes outside of camp. She normally went down there on hot days when she wanted to get away from everyone and clear her head. It was nice and peaceful out there, she was able to relax and dip her feet in the cool water. Sometimes she would sit there and read, others she would just sit and think.

Today was no different she made her way along the rocks until she found a nice place to sit. She placed her arrows down before taking off her shoes and socks, rolling up her pant legs before she sat down. The feel of the cool water lapping against her feet instantly cooled her down and released some of the anxiety she had been feeling. Maria went back to calmly cleaning her arrows in peace.

One the arrows were done she silently cursed herself for not bringing the book that Dale had let her borrow. She was too busy being angry at everyone to pick it up off the RV. Maria sighed as she thought back to the conversation she'd had with Glenn, she wanted to apologise but was too nervous.

Minutes later she heard footsteps coming down the small hill to the lake. Looking up she saw Glenn standing there confused with two plates of food in his hand. Once he spotted her however the confusion was replaced with a small smile as he walked over to where she was sat.

"Hey uh I brought you some food" Glenn handed the plate to her and Maria just nodded in thanks before setting the plate down beside her. She heard Glenn sigh as he took off his shoes and socks so he could dip his feet in the cool water.

"Look what I said earlier I didn't mean it like that. It's just you seem like an interesting person and I want to get to know you. It's not because I pity you Maria I swear"

"Why? Why do you want to get to know me? I'm nothing special Glenn"

"I don't know" he paused for a moment "I guess you seem like a great person but you don't talk to anyone except Dale. I just want to get to know you Maria. And hey maybe you could be my first friend here. Plus who said you weren't special?"

Maris snorted "first friend. Glenn everyone likes you here. No one likes me"

"They like me but that's it hell they only talk to me when they want something. The only people that don't are Dale and you. Also people don't hate you, they just don't know you."

Maria looked at Glenn seeing the seriousness in his eyes. She could tell that he was much more like her than she'd first expected although people wanted to talk to him but never talked to her because they hated her brothers. It was just like at home everyone was too afraid to talk to her but Glenn wasn't and Dale wasn't. That's when she realised that giving Glenn a chance wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"Look Glenn I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. I'm not used to people actually taking an interest in my life"

Glenn smiled at her "it's okay. How about we just start again and forget this morning ever happened?"

"Deal" she smiled back at him.

The two then proceeded to eat their small meal while talking about what books they liked, movies, music. They stayed away from the topic of family though as Glenn could sense that it made Maria feel uncomfortable and he was currently trying to get to know her.

"So what did you do before the world ended?" Glenn asked

"I worked at a coffee shop but got fired...my brother"

"Let me guess Merle?"

Maria laughed softly "yeah, he pissed of my manager and I got fired for it. What about you? What did you do? I want to say college"

"Actually I delivered pizzas in the city"

"Wow okay then pizza boy"

"Oh god please don't tell me you're gonna call me that from now on" Maria laughed "that's not funny Mia!"

Immediately Maria stopped laughing causing Glenn to look at her in worry "do you not like me calling you that? I'm sorry"

"No uh no ones called me that in a long time. But it's okay I like it" No one had called Maria that since her mother had passed away. Normally she would bite someone's head off for calling her that but for some reason she was okay with Glenn doing it.

"Um Mia I think Daryl wants you. And I think he might want to kill me" Maria looked towards the small hill and saw Daryl there, crossbow slung over his shoulder wearing a scowl on his face. It definitely looked like he wasn't happy about something. Maria grabbed her shoes and socks deciding to walk back to camp barefoot.

"Yeah he's uh protective. We should get going anyway it's late" Glenn nodded as he put his shoes on and collected their plates. As they walked in Daryl's direction Glenn tensed as the hunters glare followed him until he'd made it past Daryl and up the hill.

Maria rolled her eyes at her brothers behaviour "why are you scaring the poor guy Dar?"

"So you and him friends now?"

"I guess so. We've only been talking for an hour though"

"Just friends" Daryl questioned raising an eyebrow

"Oh my god Daryl! Yes friends! Nothing more and I can promise that nothing will happen either"

Daryl looked at his sister for a long moment before nodding his head in approval. They both started walking to camp as Daryl put an arm around his sisters shoulder "if he tries anything I'll kick his ass. You're not having a boyfriend yet I won't allow it"

"Daryl I'm 23! I'm old enough to make my own decisions"

"Nah your my baby sister so I gotta look out for ya, that includes making guys who look at ya shit themselves"

Maria was trying not to laugh as she pulled away from Daryl and started walking ahead of him. She may act annoyed by what he just said but she was also secretly happy that he actually cared about her. At least he cared enough to want to chase guys away from her. Although she hoped that he wouldn't do that to Glenn, Glenn seemed nice and she wanted him to stick around. She may be reluctant to admit it but she really enjoyed the pizza boys company. She just hoped that this new found friendship would last.

* * *

 ** _A/N: not much action in this chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it. We're almost at season 1! Only a couple more chapters to go now!_**

 ** _Holly2605 - Thank you for the reviews, hope you continue to enjoy this story! I know right?! Glenn is just the most adorable!_**

 ** _Thank you to everyone that has followed and favourited._**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	6. Chapter 6: Dixon's Aren't Weak

**_Chapter 6 - Dixon's Aren't Weak_**

A month, that's how long it had been since the world went to shit and at this point it looked like it was going to stay that way. Camp had now fallen into a daily routine that was slowly driving Maria insane. It was bad enough that she had to be stuck here with people she could barely tolerate but doing the same thing day in day out was making her crazy, she needed to go somewhere else before she snapped.

On the bright side at least she had Dale and Glenn to keep her entertained while she was stuck at camp, sure she had Daryl and Merle but sometimes she needed a break from them. Daryl was okay it was Merle that was the problem. He would constantly get high which made Maria feel uncomfortable, during those times she'd normally go and talk with Glenn by the lake. The lake had become a regular spot for the two of them whenever they wanted to get away from everyone. They would sit there and dip their feet in the cool water and talk, although sometimes they would just sit in a comfortable silence and enjoy the peace while it lasted.

Over the past two weeks the two of them had gotten closer although Maria was clearly still hiding a part of herself from him. She was still scared of letting him get too close, from her experience letting people too close normally ended in disappointment or heartache and Maria wasn't about to let that happen again. She'd had friends before but they never lasted long, either they found out she was a Dixon or they discovered what her home life was like and ran.

Maria was sat by the fire pit sharpening one of the hunting knives that she'd picked up on the run a couple of weeks ago when Glenn came over and sat beside her.

"Hey"

"Hi" Maria glanced at him before going back to cleaning her knife. Glenn cleared his throat before speaking again

"So I'm going on a run today, we're running out of canned food so I volunteered to get more. Do you want to come?"

Maria looked up at Glenn with shock evident on her face at the fact he'd asked her "why me?"

"Because I know you can handle yourself out there" he paused for a second "and because you're my friend and I want you to come with me"

Maria tried to keep a smile from spreading across her face as she pretended to think about it. In truth she wanted to go with him for two reasons; she wanted to get out of camp and she enjoyed going on runs, secondly although she wouldn't admit it she rather enjoyed Glenn's company. "Okay. When do we leave?"

Glenn let a small smile cross his face as he answered her "whenever you're ready"

"Okay let me just grab my bow" Maria got up quickly and made her way to her small tent that was next to her brothers. She thanked God that they were both out hunting today so that she wouldn't have to explain where she was going. She just hoped that she'd be back before their hunting trip was over. Picking up the bow she checked that all the arrows were with it before throwing it over her shoulder.

Maria met Glenn by the RV, he told her that they were taking one of the trucks that just had enough fuel left to make the run. It was better to use the fuel to bring back more supplies then go on foot and have to go out again only a couple of days later.

Maria released an aggravated sigh as she saw Shane heading towards them. She wasn't sure why she disliked the man, she just did. He stopped in front of them turning to give Maria a small smile which she just scowled at. Shane coughed before speaking "y'all gonna be alright on your own?"

"Yeah we'll all good, thanks man"

"Now are y'all sure-"

"He said we're fine" Maria cut him off before turning around and walking towards the truck "come on Glenn lets go!" She called over her shoulder causing Glenn to quickly follow.

Shane glared after the young Dixon. At first he thought she was okay, hell he had wondered if she was actually related to the Daryl and Merle at first but her harsh attitude towards him had proved him wrong. Now she was really starting to annoy Him, she never did what he said only what she wanted to do. Sure she helped around camp but the way she acted towards him sent a wave of rage over him every time. Sure she acted all quiet around camp but Shane knew now that she was just another piece of redneck trash like her brothers.

* * *

They had been driving for around 20 minutes in a somewhat comfortable silence when Glenn turned to Maria, a small smile settling on his face. Maria caught his stare and she looked at him confused "what?"

"Nothing, just happy you agreed to come along"

"Why?"

"I like talking to you. Plus you are a total badass" Glenn laughed and Maria couldn't help the smile that graced her features. Maria had to admit that she liked being with Glenn, he didn't push her into conversation and he could somehow tell when she needed to be alone. Glenn was so different to anyone that she'd ever known, most people looked down on her and treated her like the trash she believed she was.

Glenn looked at Maria a smile still gracing his lips. She was different to any other girl he'd known, strong and independent, yet shy and kind. He could tell that she had a hard time trusting people so he was glad that she had chosen to befriend him. Maria had unknowingly become his best friend in this new world, although he wouldn't tell her that due to fear of her retreating back into the shell she was just starting to come out of.

Maria broke him out of his thoughts when she told him to stop outside a Gas station "there should be food in the store and we can fill up the gas while we're here"

"Yeah sure, you take the store I'll take the gas?" He asked

"Yeah" was her simple reply as she hopped out of the truck and started towards the store. Once Maria arrived at the door she gently pushed it and lucky for her it was already open. Raising her bow she flowly stepped inside seeing that some of the shelves were bare, however there was still enough to feed everyone at camp for just over a week.

After she finished checking round for walkers Maria grabbed a basket from the front of the store and started loading it with all the canned food and any other items she could find. She thought canned food was the most important for now as it tended to last longer, she decided to put all the tins in the basket. The basket was rather full and heavy when she'd finished so Maria decided she was going to take it out to the car before coming back for more.

Looking out the dirty store window Maria saw Glenn was filling up the car with all the gas that he'd collected. She looked at him thinking about how in such a short period of time he had managed to become her only friend in camp. Everyone else was scared of her brothers so they also stayed clear of her, but Glenn had actually made an effort and she wondered why? Why was he being so nice to her? Most people only saw her as trash, she'd been a loner all her life and now suddenly she had a friend.

So busy lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the walker behind her until it let out an animalistic growl. Maria turned around dropping the basket and letting out a startled scream as the walker advanced on her. Maria tried to move backwards but her foot caught on of the cans that had fallen from the basket. She ended up falling to the floor pain shooting through her foot as she did so. The walker soon followed, it's body crushing Maria as she struggled to keep its snapping teeth at bay.

Maria tried to reach for her knife but it was impossible with the weight that was on top of her. Her arms were starting to weaken as the walker didn't give up its pursuit of her flesh. There was only one thing she could do now and she prayed that he would hear her.

Glenn was putting the last of the gas in the trunk when he heard Maria's scream. He could've sworn that his heart stopped for a second as he head the fear and panic in her voice. He quickly sprinted towards the store, he slammed open the door and pure terror filled him as he saw Maria lying on the floor with a walker snapping at her.

Running on pure adrenaline Glenn look the knife Maria had given him the day they met out of his belt and raced over to where she was struggling. Luckily the walker didn't notice him as he swiftly approached and stabbed it in the head immediately causing it to fall limp on top of Maria who had her eyes tightly closed.

Glenn took a moment to calm down his erratic breathing before he pushed the limp corpse off of Maria who still had her eyes shut. "Hey Mia, it's dead you can open your eyes now"

Maria slowly opened her eyes and just stared up at the cracked tile above her. She was lost in thought trying to process what had just happened, she'd been stupid unaware of her surroundings. She could've been killed because of her own stupidity. The pain in her ankle was becoming more prominent, Maria sat up slowly glancing at the dead walker, the blood was pooling around its head wound reassuring her that it was definitely dead for good now. Turning to look at Glenn he was hovering over her with a horrified look on his face, unsure of what to do.

"Are you okay? Were you bitten?"

"No but I think I sprained my ankle. Can you grab my backpack from the car? I want to bandage it" Glenn nodded his head and began to stand when the growls of walkers could be heard coming their way.

"On second thought let's just get you back to camp" Maria nodded not wanting to stay and find out how many walkers were heading their way. Glenn helped her to stand slinging her right arm over his shoulder to take the strain off her injured ankle. Glenn started to lead her to the entrance but she quickly stopped him.

"The food and my bow" Glenn sighed letting go of her to quickly retrieve the items. He slung the bow over his shoulder and grabbed the full basket before quickly making his way back over to her just as two walkers could be seen at the back of the store. The two of them quickly headed towards the car, Maria was trying not to put too much weight on her right foot as it hurt badly. She hated not being able to even walk properly it made her feel useless. Once they arrived at the car Maria got into the passenger seat as Glenn put her bow and the gathered supplies into the backseat before getting in the drivers side. Just as Glenn started the car hands banged on Maria's window causing her to jump slightly at the sight of the undead monster trying to get to her. Thankfully Glenn quickly sped away leaving the walkers to behind.

Maria leaned back in her seat and thought about what had just happened, she'd almost died today, the only reason she didn't was sat right next to her glancing at her occasionally with a worried look on his face. She couldn't believe she'd been stupid enough to let her guard down for even a second, she was going to get hell from her brothers when they got back and she was not looking forward to it. To top it all off she also had what was most probably a sprained ankle, this meant no hunting and no supply runs until it was healed. That also meant that Daryl would be hovering over her for the next couple of days, she loved her big brother but he could be way too overprotective sometimes. She remembered when she'd broken her arm when she was 15 and Daryl refused to leave her alone he did everything for her, hell he wouldn't even let her get out of bed for the first couple of days. Of course Merle was less concerned as said that Daryl should stop mothering her and just leave her to do everything on her own.

"Are you okay?" The quiet voice of Glenn cut through her thoughts

"No" was her simple reply. She didn't feel like talking right now. She was too mad at herself and afraid that she'd take that anger out on Glenn. Glenn took the hint and stayed quiet for the rest of the journey back to camp. As they became closer to camp Glenn found himself growing more and more anxious. The Dixon brothers were going to throw a fit and he knew it and Glenn wasn't ashamed to admit that he was scared of them. He knew that he was to blame for Maria getting hurt and he knew that the brothers would blame him as well. Glenn knew in the back of his mind that it would be a mistake to split up but he suggested it anyway, he'd make sure to never make that mistake again. However there was something or rather someone that Glenn was more worried about at this moment in time and the woman in question was sat right next to him. Maria had been quiet during the entire ride and it worried him. It wasn't her normal quiet while she took in the scenery, she looked tense and agitated. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but decided against it for now.

Once Glenn pulled the car back into camp he breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the brothers weren't back yet. Looking at Maria he noticed that some of the tension had left her body as well. He watched as she slowly got out the car and started limping her way over to Dale.

Dale saw Maria coming a look of concern passing over his face as he caught sight of her limp. He quickly made his way over to her as he saw Glenn talking to Shane out of the corner of his eye. "What happened?"

"I was stupid, got attacked by a walker and tripped" Maria mumbled. Dale helped her into the RV and sat her down on one of the beds while he went to go get bandages. Normally Maria would do this herself but after what had happened today she just wanted to be around people, people she could tolerate anyway.

To her surprise Glenn was the one that returned with the bandages wearing a sheepish smile on his face. "Hey"

"Hi" Maria looked down not being able to meet Glenn's eyes. She was embarrassed to be showing weakness in front of him. Dixon's didn't show weakness was what her father had fought her, in the Dixon family showing weakness was unacceptable. Glenn kneeled down in front of her and gently removed her boot and started wrapping up her ankle, he started talking while keeping his eyes on his work.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. I should've been there and maybe this wouldn't have happened"

Maria looked at Glenn in confusion, why was he apologising? She was the stupid one that hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. She was the one that nearly got herself killed, Glenn saved her life.

"Wasn't your fault. I was stupid, I let my guard down and it nearly got me killed" Maria looked to the side avoiding Glenn's stare "I'm weak, I'm the weak link in the family it's always been that way. I'm pathetic, I almost got myself killed"

Glenn finished wrapping her ankle and got up to sit beside her on the bed "that's not true. You're like one of the strongest people I contribute to this group, I'd say your strong. Stronger than you give yourself credit for anyway and you are most definitely not weak"

Maria snorted softly while wringing her hands together. Glenn's words had reassured her slightly but she still couldn't get her fathers voice out of her head " _you're weak. Dixon's can't be weak ya hear me girl. Stop ya blubbering ain't no kid of mine crying like that"._ Even though her father was dead he was still ruining her life. She tried hard to forget all those years of horrible memories but they seemed to be engraved in her mind.

"I'm sorry Glenn"

"What?"

"I messed up, probably would've gotten more if it wasn't for me"

"Stop. It's not your fault and we got plenty of stuff, enough to last everyone a couple of weeks at the most. Let me take you to your tent. You look tired" Glenn offered but Maria shook her head

"S'okay I can get there by myself" she carefully slipped her boot back on and limped towards the door. Before she left the RV she turned to Glenn "thank for...well you know"

Glenn just softly nodded at her in return watching her slowly limp across camp to her tent. He knew that this was the calm before the storm and that once her brothers got back and discovered what had happened all hell would break loose.

* * *

 ** _A/N: so sorry that it took me forever to update. I kinda needed a little break from writing for a bit. But now I'm back and I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter!_**

 ** _Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites!_**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	7. Chapter 7: Overprotective

**_Chapter 7 - Overprotective_**

Maria was right in the fact that when Daryl got back from his hunt he was pissed. He yelled at Shane for letting her go, then he yelled at Glenn for not watching out for her and then finally he yelled at her.

"The fuck Maria?! The hell happened out there?!" Maria didn't even pay Daryl a glance as she limped past him in the direction of her tent. She really couldn't be bothered arguing with Daryl right now. She was also embarrassed that he decided to pick said fight in the middle of camp with everyone watching them. It was bad enough that he'd almost started a full on fist fight with Shane.

The sound of heavy rushed footsteps followed her and she slowly and painfully hobbled closer to her tent, her safe place. "Maria Ann Dixon don't you dare walk away from me!" She could hear Daryl growl from behind her. God how she just wanted to sleep and pretend that today was all just a bad dream.

Maria pulled the flap of her tent open and quickly entered sitting down on the small cot that just fit inside the tiny tent. She let out a loud sigh of relief as the pressure was relieved from her ankle. She slowly began to remove her boots as Daryl stormed into her tent, his face was red with anger, his jaw tightly clenched as he looked at her. Maria rolled her eyes really not in the mood for any form of conversation right now.

"The hell were you thinking huh?"

"Daryl-"

"No let me talk! How could you be so reckless huh? Are ya stupid going out there without telling me?! Then to make matters worse you hurt yourself! The world ain't sunshine and rainbows you could've died today!"

"I know!" Maria snapped "We needed food and I offered to go, I know it was stupid what I did but I did it to help the group!" Maria was furious now as her hands balked into fists "plus I didn't realise I had to report everything I do to you! I'm a grown up Daryl I can do whatever the fuck I want"

"Well maybe I would treat you like an adult if you stopped acting like a spoiled little brat!" Daryl stepped closer to Maria with his fists clenched, out of instinct Maria flinched away from him and looked down at the floor.

Daryl saw her flinched and his face immediately softened. He unclenched his fists and ran a hand down his face. He knew he was overreacting but when he saw Glenn helping he down from the RV and the look of pain on her face as she limped he just snapped. He'd always been protective of her ever since their mother died he felt he had to be the one to protect her. From bullies, the harsh world and their father. God he remembered the days he didn't get home in time and found her crying in her room with a new bruise or a new scar to add to the collection. He had always blamed himself for not getting there soon enough and he will carry that guilt with him until the day he died.

Carefully sitting on the dot next to her he place a gentle hand on her shoulder, relieved when she didn't pull away. They remained in silence for a couple of minutes before Daryl sighed and began to speak " 'm sorry that I yelled at ya" Maria looked at him out of the corner of her eye but remained silent waiting for him to continue "it's just I don't want something to happen to ya, if I lost ya I...I don't think I could make it"

Maria looked at her older brother in shock as he chewed in skin around his thumbnail. A nervous habit of his that she'd picked up over the years. Maria and Daryl had always been close, wherever you'd find Daryl Maria wouldn't be far behind and vice versa. People used to joke that they were joined at the hip and to be honest they minds well have been.

"I'm sorry too Dar. I'm sorry that I scared you and that I didn't tell you, but you gotta understand that I'm not a kid anymore, you can't protect me from everything" she turned to him with a smile "world different now brother" Daryl laughed

"Yeah I know I can be a bit overprotective sometimes"

"Well I would say annoying asshole..." Maria laughed. Daryl glared at her and pushed her playfully.

"Shut up MiMi" he smirked as he saw the look of horror on her face at the old nickname. She punched him in the arm

"shut up! How many times I gotta tell you not to call me that" she huffed crossing her arms over her chest. They stared at each other before finally bursting out laughing. They could never stay mad at each other for long, this was how most of their fights went. Yelling match, apologise then banter.

After they finally calmed down Daryl turned to her more serious than before "gotta keep weight off that ankle, means mo hunting for a while" Maria groaned in frustration "can still skin 'em though"

"Yay" came her sarcastic response "looks like I'll have to stay round here and actually talk to people" it wasn't that Maria didn't like the people at camp, it's the fact that she thought they didn't like her. She was related to Merle after all and everyone pretty much hated him.

"It'll give you more time to spend with that kid you seem to like" Maria glared at her brother. If looks could kill he'd definitely be dead right now. Ever since he had seen her and Glenn down by the water he hadn't stopped teasing her about him. Sure she liked him, he was sweet and didn't judge her based on who she was related to but they were just friend and probably always would be.

"Whatever, now get out I need sleep. It's been a long day" Daryl didn't protest as he got up and headed towards the entrance of the tent.

"I'll bring you some food in a couple hours. You can be a real bitch when your hungry" Daryl dodged the flying shoe that was aimed at his head as he ran out of the tent chuckling lightly. Maria quickly settled down on the cot getting comfortable before closing her eyes and letting sleep consume her.

* * *

Glenn was sat by the fire eating breakfast when he saw Daryl carrying Maria over to the log near him. Her cheeks were tinted pink out of embarrassment. Watching Daryl fuss over Maria completely shocked Glenn as he'd never thought that side of the man existed. Merle however was just strolling along behind them without a care in the world as he got breakfast for himself.

"Stop babying her little brother. Girls gotta learn" the elder Dixon grumbled before shoving food into his mouth. Daryl glared at his older brother before handing a plate to Maria, she smiled lightly and immediately began to eat.

Glenn still felt bad for what had happened yesterday, he wanted to properly apologise but in all honesty he was too scared with Daryl and Merle around. Maria caught him staring a titled her head to the side. Glenn quickly looked down all of a sudden finding the food on his plate very interesting.

Someone sitting down beside him caused Glenn to break out of his trance like state. To his surprise it was Maria, she nodded her head softly at his and went back to eating. He turned to face Daryl who also gave him a nod. He wasn't sure what it meant, did it mean they were okay?.

"So why were you staring at me" Maria asked once she finished her breakfast.

"Uh well you see I uh.." Glenn spluttered not being able to string his words together.

"Spit it out before I grow old Pizza boy"

"I'm sorry for yesterday!" He rushed out so fast that he was worried that she couldn't understand him. Maria just sighed and looked away from him towards the trees.

"Told ya it wasn't your fault, I was reckless and splitting up was a stupid move" she ran a hand through her thick blonde hair "please don't blame yourself Glenn, especially when you have nothing to feel guilty for"

"Yeah I know, it's just I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you" Maria turned to face Glenn only to be face to face with him. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment seemingly getting lost. That was until a cough sounded from In front of them causing the two to turn their gases elsewhere.

Maria looked up to find Daryl there, crossbow slung over his should, eyebrow raised. "Going hunting again, squirrel doesn't last long around here" he folded his arms and turned to Glenn who was looking anywhere but Daryl "hey short round"

"Y-yeah?"

"Keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't get into anymore trouble" he pointed at Maria who just rolled her eyes a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"I don't need a babysitter Daryl" she protested but was completely ignore as Daryl walked off into the woods with Merle. God she hated how overprotective he was, but hell she also loved him for it.

Once the breakfast plates were clear Maria decided that she'd join Dale up on top of the RV, at least that was she'd feel useful. Glenn had obviously protested worried about her actually getting up there. However Maria managed with just one leg, it was difficult but she finally made it to the top with help from Dale. He helped her into the chair next to his and they both sat there watching out for any danger.

"You know I noticed something" Dale stated after about ten minutes. Maria hummed in response "why do you only talk to me and Glenn around here? Why not Amy she's around your age" Maria shuffled found in her seat awkwardly. Dale looked at her for a moment before realisation hit his face "Maria-"

"Don't Dale, okay. I know how they look at me. Like I'm some trash they found on the side of the street. I'm nothing but a good for nothing redneck to them and I always will be"

"That's no true. I don't think that and Glenn certainly doesn't. They just need to get to know you." Dale gave her a smile "hell I bet they'd love you as soon as they talked to you"

Maria scoffed "yeah right. I've always been a no good Dixon. At school I had no friends because of my last name. How stupid is that?!"

"Well I don't know if you've noticed but the world ended and last names don't mean anything anymore. But who you are, who you choose to be. That matters" Dale patted her shoulder. Maria didn't say anything else, just continued to stare ahead into the trees. Maybe Dale was right, maybe she should give this whole group thing a chance instead of sitting on the sidelines.

* * *

 ** _A/N: This is just a short chapter, it's mainly to show the bond between Maria and Daryl. There will probably be another chapter this week and it will definitely be longer than this. I also have a couple of questions for you all._**

 ** _1) what do you think of Maria so far?_**

 ** _2) Do you want Maria to go to Atlanta with the group on the supply run?_**

 ** _Thank you holly2605 for the review! And thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited this story!  
_**

 ** _\- Emily x_**


	8. Chapter 8: An Unlikely Friendship

_**Chapter 8 - An Unlikely Friendship**_

Maria was sat sharpening her knives by the fire pit, it had been a week since she got injured on the run with Glenn and although her ankle was feeling better it still wasn't fully healed. Daryl and Merle had been taking care of her being the overprotective brothers they were. They didn't let her out of their sight. Maria was shocked that Merle even cared it was no secret that her and Merle weren't close, they used to be but over the years Merl's excessive drinking and drug use had driven them apart. Even now after the world had gone to shit Merle was constantly looking for his next high and Maria hated it. So it came as a shock to her and everyone in camp when he actually stayed to help his little sister.

Hearing someone sit down next to her Maria looked up from sharpening her knife to see Merle. "What do you want Merle?" Maria sighed and she looked back down and continued her task.

"Well good to see you too little sis" Merle chuckled as Maria shot him a glare. Merle held up his hands in surrender "alright I just came to talk no need to be like that" Maria scoffed but let Merle continue "listen a few of us are heading off into the city for supplies tomorrow"

"And you're going with them?" Maria scoffed "fine, then I'm going too"

"Nah you're staying here. Can't have you going out there and getting yourself hurt even worse"

Maria rolled her eyes "yeah like you would actually care" something flickered in Merle's eyes, was it hurt? Maria wasn't sure as it barely lasted a second. Maria shook her head thinking she was just seeing things.

"Just don't want you slowing us down is all" Merle grumbled

"Yeah whatever. Is there anything else?"

Merle looked at his sister on the outside he wore a stone cold mask but on the inside he felt hurt. He hated the fact that him and Maria had drifted apart over the years, he hated the fact that she could barely stand him but most of all he hated the fact that her and Daryl seemed to share a strong bond. The two were like peas in a pod and even though he would rather die than admit it he wished he had that with her as well but he didn't and he doubted that he ever would. Merle knew it was his own fault he knew the drinking and the drugs had pushed her away, they made him into a real son of a bitch but he found it hard to quit it was like a routine for him now.

"Nah just thought I'd tell ya" Merle grumbled as he got up. He saw Dale on top of the RV and decided to go talk to him, for some reason Maria had gotten close to the old man he had no idea why. He normally wouldn't do this but he needed someone to watch over Maria while him and Daryl were gone.

"Hey old man!" Dale's head snapped round to look at Merle, shock adorning the old mans features "need you to do me a favour"

"Well depends what you want"

"Need ya to keep an eye on little Dixon over there make sure she doesn't get into any trouble"

"Of course you don't need to ask"

"Yeah well just do it. And if anything happens to her it's on you" Merle growled before quickly walking away towards the car where everyone was waiting.

* * *

Maria watched as the car carrying Merle and Glenn drove away, a bad feeling settling into her stomach as the car went further and further into the distance. Daryl put a hand on her shoulder startling her slightly. "He'll be okay you know?"

"Yeah I know Merles a tough son of a bitch"

"I wasn't talking about Merle" Daryl smirked as Maria's cheeks tinged pink. Maria slapped Daryl's arm giving him the famous Dixon glare.

"You're an asshole Dar"

Daryl smiles "I know. Hey I'm about to leave for the hunt you sure you'll be okay here"

"Yes Dar, I'm a big girl I think I can take care of myself" she grumbled "but just remind me why I can't go again?" This time Maria was on the reviving end of that famous Dixon glare.

"You know damn well why and I ain't havin this argument again Maria"

Maria held up her hands in defence "okay okay I get it" she sighed looking at Daryl before pulling him into a hug "be safe" Daryl held onto his sister for a moment longer before letting go, he said his final goodbye before heading into the woods to hunt. Maria looked around camp feeling like she didn't fit in with these people. She debated going to spend time with Dale but decided against it not wanting to bother him. Instead Maria headed over to a random log and decided to make some homemade arrows for Daryl's crossbow and her bow.

Maria sat there whittling a stick so that its end was nice and pointed. She heard footsteps coming towards her but ignored them thinking the wouldn't want to talk to her. However when she saw a small pair of scruffy shoes within her eye site she looked up only to see Carols daughter stood in front of her. Maria thought she was lost and just stared at the girl in front of her blankly for a moment before Sophia finally broke the silence "Miss Maria I was wondering if you'd come make flower chains with me everybody else is busy"

Maria sat there in shock while Sophia smiled at her. Sophia was the only person outside of Glenn and Dale who had actually made an effort to talk to her and not just because they wanted something or they wanted her to pass a message to her brothers. Most people however just stayed clear of her altogether assuming that just because she was a Dixon that she was like Merle.

"Sorry for bothering-" Sophia started, the smile on her face turning into a frown. Maria noticing this felt bad and interrupted her.

"No!" She burst out startling Sophia "I mean I-it's okay I was just shocked that's all"

"Why were you shocked miss Maria" the young girl questioned

"Not many people here talk to me and please just call me Maria"

"People are scared of your brothers but they aren't here and you looked lonely so I thought you'd like to help me"

"Of course I will. Sophia right?" Maria asked standing up

"Yes ma'am!" Sophia beamed up at her "come on I know the perfect place to find Daisies" Sophia started walking away leaving Maria to catch up.

"Non of that ma'am sh-stuff either, makes me feel old"

"Well you are old"

Maria gasped "I'm 23 thank you very much that is not old!" Maria ruffled Sophia's hair making the little girl giggle.

"Yeah well that's old for a 12 year old! We're here!" Sophia exclaimed as they stopped at a grassy patch full of Daisies. The two girls sat down opposite each other. Then it occurred to Maria that she'd never actually made a daisy chain before, her childhood wasn't like most others she never had any real friends back in her hometown. No mother to teach her these things either only an abusive asshole of a father and a brother who taught her how to hunt.

"Umm so how do we do this?" Maria said just above a whisper, slightly ashamed that she didn't know how.

"You never made one before?" Sophia asked confused "well that's okay I'll teach you" Sophia showed Maria how to join all the flowers together. Maria caught on quickly and started making her own she would accidentally break one here and there making Sophia giggle as she threw the broken ones at the young girl. Maria couldn't believe it, she was smiling and laughing and it wasn't forced like it normally was. She was actually happy.

"Done!" Sophia exclaimed holding up a chain to show Maria

"Wow who's that for?"

"You silly" Maria looked on in shock as Sophia placed the crown of Daisies on her head. Maria couldn't help the smile that adorned her features, Sophia was such a kind and sweet girl. She had actually made a friend, a very unlikely one at that.

* * *

Carol was done sorting clothes and was currently wondering around camp trying to find Sophia. Lori hadn't seen the little girl claiming that she said she was going to the tent to get something. However when Carol checked all she found was a sleeping Ed.

Carol was starting to panic thinking the worst had happened to her little girl, the only light in her life. However just when she was about to scream for help she heard the sound of her daughters rare laughter. Carol signed in relief, however that relief soon turned into confusion as she heard an unfamiliar laughter follow.

Following the sounds of laughter Carol turned the corner and was shocked by what she saw. Sophia was sat there in the grass opposite Maria Dixon who wore a crown made of Daisies on her head and was currently struggling to make her own chain. Carol stood their watching the two and in that moment she could tell that Maria was nothing like her brothers.

The young girl In front of her, the normally silent and slightly stoic girl was sat their laughing and smiling. Carol had always felt that people judged Maria wrongly and this was proof. She felt bad for her being judged and avoided just because of her brothers. Carol had wanted to go up to the girl and talk but over the past couple of weeks Daryl had been her shadow and that man made Carol nervous.

Carol started walking over to the two girls who seemed to be deep in conversation. Maria caught sight of the woman first the smile slipping from the young woman's face, a worried expression replacing it before the stoic mask slipped back into place.

Maria quickly stood up once Carol approached and started rambling thinking that Carol was here to tell her to get away from her daughter. "Carol-" but the older woman just smiled looking between the two. "It's okay Maria I just came to see if you wanted to eat lunch with us"

Maria stood there for a moment words failing as she looked at the woman In front of her. "Really? You want me to eat ouch with you?" Maria said once she finally found her words her stoic mask now gone being replaced by a look of relief.

"Of course! Plus I doubt this one will want to leave your side now. She seems to really like you" Carol nodded to Sophia who was now stood next to Maria smiling up at her.

"Please Maria" the young girl asked softly

"I'd like that, now you go wash your hands or whatever while I talk to your mom okay?" Sophia nodded and ran towards the RV with a bright smile on her face. Maria turned to Carol "listen if you don't want me to talk to her again that's okay, I'll understand."

"I meant what I said Maria, you are not your brothers and I can see that. It's just a shame no one else is willing to get to know you for you. Plus Sophia seems to really like you and it's hard for her to make friends and laugh, especially in this new world. So thank you"

"Thank you Carol I really appreciate it"

"Good" the older woman smiled putting an arm around Maria who tensed at first but slowly relaxed as she was guided towards the RV towards the RV " now let's get some food in you, you're way too skinny"

It had been a while since Maria felt like this, like she might actually belong as she sat in the RV eating lunch with Carol and Sophia. She felt happy and content for the first time in years. It was just a shame that it took the world going to shit for her to find people that she felt herself caring about, and people that appeared to care about her in return.

* * *

 **Note**

 _So it's been a while...whoops. But I'm back yay! These past couple of months have been an emotional roller coaster for me and due to that I lost my motivation to write. But I'm starting to feel better now and I want to start writing again._

 _Anyway I hope you all liked this chapter I know it's not that long but I had fun writing it. Next chapter will be longer and more intense (we all know what happens next) so look forward to it!_

 **Kingluffy31** \- _Thank you. Yeah I thought it would be good to see her at camp without the main people she trusts. I hope you liked this chapter :)_

 **Ellixwolf** \- _I was going to use Amy but changed it to Sophia. I want them to have a sister bond plus it works better for future chapters I have planned. But I'll probably add in some Amy & Maria talk next chapter._

 **Holly2605** \- _unfortunately she didn't go this time but don't worry some Maria/Glenn bonding time is coming soon!_


	9. Chapter 9: New Sheriff In Town

**_Chapter 9 - New Sheriff In Town_**

Maria sat in the middle of camp. After Sophia left to go somewhere with Carol she decided to continue making arrows. The talk with Sophia and Carol had boosted her confidence somewhat though she still reluctant to approach anyone else in camp.

Out of the corner of her eye Maria could see Amy coming back into camp carrying a bucket that was most likely filled with berries and mushrooms. She watched as the young girl who was around her age sat opposite Lori. They began to talk about if the berries were safe for eating, Maria had spent practically her whole life in the woods and was debating whether to speak up on the matter. After a moment she did "I know which ones are poison I can have a look for you"

Lori turned to face her with a look of mistrust on her face, she's one of the people that made it very clear that she didn't like her brothers and judged her. Amy however looked at her with wonder, probably because that was the first time she'd hear Maria talk.

"We'll just ask Shane when he gets back" Lori stated before grabbing the now empty bucket and walking away. Maria's looked down at her lap pushing all the emotions she was beginning to feel to the back of her mind. And people wondered why she was so closed off and quiet, though people took her lack of emotion as her being cold hearted that was definitely not the case.

"Hey um would you mind checking for me? I want to get them done now" a soft quiet voice asked from a couple of feet away. Maria looked to her left seeing Amy staring at her, a small nervous smile adorned her lips. Maria silently nodded as she walked over and sat in the spot that Lori once occupied. Checking the berries she noticed that they were all good and handed them to Amy for washing. The two girls stayed silent for a while before Amy spoke, "they've been gone a long time haven't they?"

"Yeah," Maria nodded thinking how the group should have been back by now "it's going to get dark in a couple of hours"

"I just hope they're okay" Maria nodded and the girls lapsed back into silence "so umm are you really a Dixon?" Maria tilted her head in confusion "it's just...you don't act like them. I saw you with Sophia earlier"

Maria let out a small laugh, it wasn't the first time someone had asked her that "Yep definitely a Dixon. People always said I was different, more shy and reserved than my brothers. But I still have their temper"

Amy let out a giggle "so what are-" but she was interrupted by the sound of the CV going off. A static voice started coming over the line, Maria could only make out part of it but she heard the words trapped and department store, that was enough to get her to panic. Merle and Glenn were trapped and all she could think about now was going after them. It seems like Amy had the same idea as she marched up to Shane Maria hot on her heels. "We need to go after them!"

"You know we can't do that, we can't endanger the rest of the group y'all know that" Shane's words caused anger to bubble up inside them as Amy and Maria gave him hate filled glares.

"My sister volunteered to go!"

"I'm sorry Amy but if she's not back then she's dead and there's nothing we can do about that"

"You son of a bitch" Amy spat as she stormed off clearly trying to hold back her tears. Maria stepped up to Shane fists clenched at her sides.

"So that's it you'll just leave them to die? My brother and Glenn-"

"No one care about your asshole piece of trash brother girl!" Shane spat. Before anyone could react Maria's anger got the better of her and she punched Shane letting out all her anger and frustration that had been building up against him for weeks now.

"You selfish son of a bitch!" She spat however before she could do anymore damage gentle hands were on her shoulders guiding her away from a pissed off Shane who stomped away from the scene soon after.

Dale lead Maria inside the RV and guided her to sit at the table. Maria was still shaking with anger at Shane's words, she may not have been close with Merle but she still cared. She couldn't understand how he could leave all those people to die. Then it hit her, Glenn was out there too the man that she had become closest to in the group was going to die and there was nothing she could do. All Maria wanted to do was grab a car and drive into the city to get them but she knew that wasn't a possibility.

The RV door opening brought her out of her thoughts as she looked around to see Carol and Sophia standing there, sad looks on there faces having clearly heard the argument.

"I'm sorry" Maria mumbled looking down at her hands as she clenched her wrist, but wince pain and for the first time she saw the little scrapes in her knuckles from where'd they'd connected with Shane's Jaw. Clearly she'd hit him harder than she thought. Carol sat down opposite her and Sophia sat next to her, Dale had gone back to his guard duty on top of the RV a while ago.

"What for?" Carol asked grabbing Maria's hand and cleaning the cuts.

"That you had to see that, that you had to see me like that."

"Don't apologise, you were right...Shane is an asshole." Carol gave her a small smile that Maria returned as the older woman went back to cleaning up her knuckles.

"Don't worry Maria, I'm sure everyone is fine and they'll be back in no time" Sophia tried to reassure her new friend. The truth was that Sophia was just as scared she had been since this whole thing started. Yet again she was used to being scared she already had one monster in her life.

Once Carol had finished the three girls decided to play cards, Maria decided to teach Sophia how to play go fish. Sitting there trying to have fun had somewhat taken her mind off Merle and Glenn although it was still gnawing at the back of her mind the distraction was enough to stop it eating away at her.

Not long after a faint sound could be heard, as Maria listened closer she thought that it sounded like a car alarm and it was getting closer. The three girls rushed out of the RV praying that it was the group. Maria looked on In confusion as she noticed a red car rushing towards them. The noise started to get louder and peop

le were starting to panic that it would attract walkers to the area.

The car came to an abrupt holt and Maria could see a very happy looking Glenn in the front seat. Maria let out a sigh of relief seeing that he was unharmed, now she just needed to know where Merle was. However as soon as Glenn stepped out of the car Amy and Shane were surrounding him, shouting at him about the others and to pop the hood.

"Relax they're all okay...well most of them are" Glenn looked at Maria with sadness in his eyes causing her breath to catch in her throat. Maria walked slowly over to Glenn "where's Merle?"

"Maria-"

"No Glenn where's my brother?!" Glenn guided Maria further away from the group that had formed to welcome back everyone.

"Listen okay? Merle he-he went crazy, beat up T-Dog, tried to take over the group"Glenn paused not knowing what to say next "Maria...the new guy over there handcuffed him to the roof, I don't know if he's here or not"

Maria wasn't sure how to respond, a mixture of emotions were whirling inside her and she didn't know which one to focus on. So instead she stormed through camp towards the back of the white van, everyone was looking at her but she didn't care she needed to know if Merle was in there or not. Once she rounded the corner all hope was gone the van was empty meaning her brother had been left behind.

Anger was all she felt right now as she stormed over to the group pointing angrily at the man in a sheriffs uniform. "You asshole" Maria went to lunge for him but was held back by Glenn who she didn't realise had followed her.

She saw Lori whisper something to the man who's face flooded with guilt as his eyes softened, he stepped towards her carefully "Maria right?"

"Who the hell are you and where the fuck is my brother?" Maria hissed

"I did what had to be done, I planned on releasing him but the key was lost. I'm sorry"

"Your sorry? So because you lost the fucking key my brother is dead!"

"I lost the key" T-Dog stepped forward "and he's not dead. I chained the door to the roof, Merles still alive up there"

Maria felt her anger dull slightly although she was still Royally pissed. "Well then I'll just go get him" Maria said breaking out of Glenn's hold and marching towards her tent. Once inside Maria starting gathering everything she'd need to go get her brother, a noise at the tent alerted her to someone presence and she whirled round pointing her knife at them. However she lowered it when she saw the sheriff stood there.

"What do you want Sheriff?"

"Please call me Rick. You can't go get him now, it's too dangerous and it'll be dark in a couple of hours" he tried to reason with her

"Yeah well no one else is going to get him"

"I'll go" this statement shocked Maria as she turned round to face the man "I'm going back to get your brother and a bag of guns I dropped in the city. You can come with but we go in the morning"

Maria thought about it for a moment before sitting down and nodding "fine, best to wait until Daryl comes back anyway...you know I'm still pissed at you but I'll warn you now Daryl will get violent. He's not as good at controlling his anger"

"Thank you for the warning"Rick turned to leave but stopped and look back at her "I have to ask but only because I found some on Merle, do you do drugs"

Maria's anger flared again but this time not a Rick but at Merle "that stupid asshole he was high wasn't he" Rick just nodded in response causing Maria to sigh "no I don't and I don't drink either officer. I warned him to stop but he doesn't listen to me"

Rick nodded and gave her a small smile, although he saw similarities in her and Merle he also saw the big differences and part of him wondered is they were even related "well thank you for being honest with me, and I'm sorry again about your brother."

Maria just nodded as Rick walked out of the tent. She continued to twirl the knife in her hands as she thought about everything that had happened that day. She'd made new friends in camp which was a step forward for her, but then her brother was left on some rooftop in Atlanta and her trust of the people around her had taken a massive hit. What if they left her out there too? What if they kick her and Daryl out the group because of what Merle did? She knew most of the people in the group didn't trust them so this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Maria eventually got too tired, she had skipped dinner as she wasn't hungry instead deciding to climb into bed and get some much needed rest for tomorrow. She fell to sleep thinking about all the good memories she had with Merle, there weren't many but they were definitely good ones.

* * *

 **Note**

 _Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I know there hasn't been much Maria/Glenn interaction in the last couple of chapters but don't worry there is loads coming up! What do you think of the Maria/Sophia friendship?_

 **SpringBorn** \- _Thank you! I love Glenn/Maggie too but I really wanted to try and Glenn/OC story because like you said there aren't many out there._

 **GilyFlower** \- _oh now that's made me sad :( you'll have to wait and see if she survives :) and thank you!_

 **Mili_maddox** \- _I know right they are adorable!_

 ** _Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed this story!_**

 ** _\- Emily_**


	10. Chapter 10: Dead Or Alive?

_**Chapter 10 - Dead Or Alive?**_

Maria barely slept that night she was too busy tossing and turning. Not knowing if Merle was alive was eating at her she just wanted to go to Atlanta and get him. Every time she closed her eyes she'd see Merle and all the rare good times they had together. Like when he let her ride on the back of the motorbike for the first time, or when he scared off a group of boys who had been tormenting her.

Maria sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get any sleep now, the sun was rising and she could hear the camp starting to come to life. A rustling was heard outside her tent as she sat up in bed she heard a nervous voice call out to her. "Maria? Are you awake in there?" Glenn's nervous voice fluttered into the tent making her lips twitch slightly.

"I'll be out in a minute" She called out while quickly getting changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She put the clothes in the pile to be washed, she had refused Carols offer at first but the older woman was persistent refusing to take no for an answer. Maria didn't want to burden Carol with even more chores but she just wasn't taking no for an answer.

Quickly slipping her hunting knife into her belt Maria slipped out of the tent to find a sheepish looking Glenn stood there holding two plates of food. "Um I uh noticed that you didn't eat anything last night so I brought you some breakfast" Glenn shuffled his feet nervously "I also thought we could uh talk?"

Maria grabbed one of the plates from Glenn and went to sit on a log that was located just outside of her tent. She stared digging into the plate of food realising how hungry she truly was, feeling someone sit down next to her she looked and saw a nervous looking Glenn pushing food round his plate. Maria set down her fork swallowing her mouthful before speaking "what do you want to talk about?"

"I'm sorry" he responded causing Maria to glance at him in confusion, "I was there I should've...I don't know, done something". Glenn sighed running a hand through his messy hair.

Maria set her now empty plate down and turned to face Glenn "how is this your fault? Did you chain him to that pipe? Did you make Merle take those drugs and go on a crazy power trip?" She couldn't understand why Glenn felt it was his fault. Sure at first she'd been angry with all of them but now she saw it was mostly Merles own fault that he got left behind. Although part of her was still angry at Rick for leaving him there she could understand why he did it. When Glenn didn't answer Maria spoke again "see? It's not your fault, it's Merle's"

The two sat in silence, both lost in their own thoughts on the situation. Glenn was the first one to speak up "Rick's going back to Atlanta right?", Maria nodded, "and you're going with him?" Again Maria nodded curious as to what Glenn was getting at. Then finally when he spoke her jaw dropped open "then I'm going too"

"What? Glenn no! You don't have to do that you just got back and I don't want you risking your life for my idiot of a brother. Glenn you-" Glenn silenced Maria by placing his hand onto of hers, the younger Dixon tensed at the contact causing Glenn to awkwardly move his hand away. Maria regretted how she had tensed missing the comfort his touch brought for just a second before she brushed it off.

"I'm going and that's that, I know the city better than anyone you'll need me out there".

"But why?" She was finding it difficult to understand why he'd risk his life for Merle, it was no secret that everyone hated him.

"Because you're my friend Mia" Glenn smiled. Maria nodded mumbling a small thank you to her friend. This was all new to Maria, she wasn't used to having friends and she sure as hell wasn't used to people helping her. The two of them sat there in silence for a while before the sounds of children screaming broke it.

Maria looked up her eyes going wide "Sophia" she whispered as she got up and rushed in the direction the screams were coming from, she could see Rick and Shane just ahead of her. Once entering the tree line she saw a blur of blonde hair before Sophia crashed into her, clinging to her waist. Maria wasn't sure what to do so she awkwardly patter the young girls back while whispering that everything was going to be okay.

Carol came rushing towards the two girls with tears streaming down her face, the younger woman passed a sobbing Sophia to her mother. She followed in the direction the men had gone to see them hitting the walker with their weapons before Dale finally cut off its head. It was then that she noticed the dead deer with an arrow in it, Daryl's arrow.

"This is the first one we've had up here, they never come this far" Dale stated with a look of worry plastering his face. A rustling could be heard from the trees and the men took defensive stances with their weapons ready. Daryl appeared and everyone let out sighs of relief.

"son of a bitch! That's my dear!" He walked over to it "looked at it all gnawed on by this filthy, diseased-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard" with each word he delivered a kick to the corpse laying on the ground. Maria sighed, great he was already in a bad mood and they still had to tell him about Merle.

Daryl knelt down to take the arrow out the deer "what do you think? Cut up 'round this chewed up part?" He directed the question to Shane who shook his head claiming they "couldn't risk it". "Well I got about a dozen squirrel or so that should do, come on little sis lets get Merle and gut these things"

Daryl walked passed everyone heading into camp while Maria gave Rick a stern look before following. "Merle! Get your ass out here!" Daryl walked into camp continuing to call out their brothers name.

"Daryl stop we need to talk" Maria said just loud enough for her brother to hear. Daryl stopped in the middle of camp turning round to face his sister. "There's a problem" she stated moving her gaze away from Daryl's as she decided to stare down at the ground.

"What's going on? He dead?" The older Dixon question clearly starting to get agitated.

"Look there's no easy way to say this so I'll just say it" Rick's voice came from behind Maria as he came to stand just in front of her.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Rick Grimes"

"Well Rick Grimes, you got something you wanna tell me!" Daryl spat clearly just wanting an answer to where his brother was.

"Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him onto a roof hooked to a piece of metal, he's still on there". Maria held her breath waiting for Daryl's reaction, his eyes flicked to her but she once again lowered her gaze to the ground.

To say Daryl was pissed would be an understatement but Maria could see the unshod tears in her brothers eyes and her heart broke for him. "So let me process this, you handcuffed my brother to a roof and left him there!" He roared and before anyone knew what was happening Daryl threw the squirrels at Rick who quickly dodged. Pulling out his knife Daryl charged at Rick but he quickly avoided the attack.

Maria gasped in horror as Shane got behind Daryl and put him in a chokehold. Maria's temper flared as she shouted "let him go!", she went to move forward but found that she couldn't as Glenn's arm was wrapped round her waist. She struggled to get free but Glenn only tightened his grip.

"Choke holding illegal" she heard Daryl wheeze

"Yeah well file a complaint" Shane snarled back causing Maria to glare at him. Rick knelt down to Daryl's height "you think we can have a calm rational discussion about this?". It took Daryl a moment but he reluctantly nodded.

Shane let go of him as Glenn let go of Maria who immediately rushed to her brothers side. She tried to help Daryl sit up but he pushed her away, regret flickered in his eyes as he saw her hurt expression but he just turned his head back to face Rick. "Your brother does not work and play well with others, what I did was not on a whim"

"It's not all Rick's fault" T-Dog stepped forward "I dropped the key"

"What, you couldn't pick it up?!" Daryl snapped back

"I dropped it down a drain". Daryl got up off the floor and started walking away "I chained the door to the roof though, so the geeks couldn't get at him"

Maria decided to speak up "he could still be alive Daryl, we need to go look"

"Fine! Just tell me where he is so we can go get him".

Camp was silent for a moment before Lori spoke up "he'll show you, isn't that right?"

"I'm going back" Rick stated causing Lori to go into the RV and Maria to roll her eyes at the woman. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Daryl who gently pulled her into a light hug "we're gonna get him back Mar, we're gonna get our brother back"

* * *

Daryl and Maria were sat by the fire pit, the latter hadn't let her out of his sight since he learned about Merle, it was like he thought she would disappear he she wasn't right next to him. Maria twirled the arrow she was holding around in her hand as she listened to the distant sounds of Rick and Shane fighting getting closer. She knew most of the camp disagreed with Rick going along with the two Dixon siblings.

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked Rick as the two walked into the centre of camp.

"Hey better choose your words more carefully" Daryl snarled as both siblings glared at Shane. Maria and Merle may not have been the closest but she wouldn't let anyone speak about her brother that way.

"No douche bags what I meant" Shane glared right back at them before turning back to his argument with Rick "Merle Dixon wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst"

"Well I couldn't let a man die of thirst Shane, me, it's not right just leaving him up there" Rick argued. Honestly Maria was starting to like Rick more as the day went on, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, even if he did handcuff her brother to a roof.

"So you, Daryl and Maria? That's you big plan?" Lori spoke up. Maria sighed resisting the urge to snap back at the woman who seemed to always put her nose into other people business.

"I'm going to" everyone turned to face Glenn "I know the city better than anyone, I should go" Glenn locked eyes with Maria who gave him a small smile. The interaction did not go unnoticed by Daryl who looked st the two of them with confusion.

"Thank you Glenn, I appreciate it" Rick said patting him on the shoulder

Shane laughed "that's great, now your risking four of y'all"

"Five" T-Dog spoke coming forward

"My day just keeps getting better and better don't it" Daryl remarked sarcastically earning a jab in the ribs from Maria. "Be nice Daryl, you see anyone else stepping up to help?". She then turned to T-Dog "what my brother meant to say was thank you"

"Great so now it's five" Shane ran a hand through his hair in frustration "just so you know Rick your putting everyone one here at risk, just know that"

"Guns" Rick said causing him to receive confused glances "I cleared out the station back home. Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles and over a dozen handguns. I dropped the bag in Atlanta" however Lori still wasn't convinced and kept talking about how Merle wasn't worth one of their lives. Maria felt her blood boiling and knew she needed to get out of there before she snapped. She quickly got up and walked over to the van that they would be using to get back to Atlanta, she sat in the back letting her legs dangle as she placed her bow next to her.

Dale came over to stand in front of her "you be careful out there okay? You may not know it but you're important to some people here" Maria huffed out a laugh not believing his words "I care, Carol and Sophia care. Glenn definitely cares if he's going with you. Just stay safe okay"

"I'll try Dale" She said giving the older man a smile before Jim called him over. Maria let out a sigh, did those people really care? Would they miss her if anything happened? She doubted it.

She felt a shift next to her and looked up seeing Daryl, his presence alone giving her silent comfort. They sat there for ten minutes before the rest of the group came over, Glenn got in the drivers seat as Daryl began to pass. Daryl was clearly getting frustrated at the fact it was taking them so long to leave.

"Five rounds, five people. Let's just hope that's your lucky number" she heard Shane say before the sound of the van horn going off startled her. Maria moved further into the van sitting down opposite Daryl and next to T-Dog as Rick finally got into the passengers seat.

* * *

The drive to Atlanta seemed to take forever as Maria nervously bit the nail of her thumb, a bad habit that she had picked up from Daryl. As they got closer the knot in her stomach got tighter and tighter she was scared of what they'd find up on that roof.

Five minutes later Glenn parked the van and turned around "we walk from here" he stated hopping out the front seat. Maria quickly stood up eager to find her brother, she jumped out of the van and jogged along with the rest of the guys. As they were nearing the city Rick turned to the group and asked "Merle or Guns"

"Merle" the Dixon stated together. Rick looked to Glenn

"They're right, Merle first. The guns will mean us doubling back"

It didn't take long for them to reach the store. All five remained silent and on high alert as they made their way through the rooms. Maria had her bow ready to fire at the first sign of a walker. Daryl moved forward as a female walker came into view "damn you are one ugly skank"

However before he could pull the trigger on his crossbow the walker fell down dead with an arrow in its head. Daryl spun round the glare at Maria who just smiled innocently back at him "what? You were taking too long" she moved forward collecting the arrow. The other three men were trying their hardest to conceal their laughter.

As they reached the stairs to the roof Daryl started taking them two at a time with Maria close behind him, once they reached the door to the roof they made way for T-Dog who had the bolt cutters. Once the chain was cut Daryl kicked the door open shouting Merle's name as he ran through. Maria quickly followed looking at Daryl in confusion as he stood there with tears in his eyes.

It was then that Maria saw what he was looking at, her knees buckled as she held a hand to her mouth. Her sobs were loud and filled with pain as she looked at what was I front of her. Sat in a pool of blood was the sawn off hand of Merle Dixon.

* * *

 **Note**

 _Sorry it's been a couple of weeks I've just been so busy this month. I turned 22 this month and since then I've just been too busy to write. Although I have been updating my SOA story I only just got back into writing._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I can't wait to write the next one! There's going to be a slight twist, can you guess what it is? ;)_

 _Question: if I was to write a Rosita/OFC story or a Maggie/OFC story would anyone read it?_

 **Springborn** \- _I was never a fan of her either tbh. And yes Shane definitely deserved that punch :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed this story!_

 _\- Emily x_


	11. Chapter 11: Guns and Trouble

**_Chapter 11 - Guns and Trouble_**

Sitting on the floor Maria wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on around her. She could faintly hear the sounds of Daryl screaming but all she could focus on was the hand that belonged to her brother. Sure Merle was an asshole sometimes but he was her brother and she still loved him.

Gentle hands resting on her shoulders made her jump back to reality, noticing it had come quiet she turned to face where Daryl was and gasped at seeing him pointing his crossbow at T-Dog. However the shock turned to anger as she saw Rick point a gun at her brother, just when she was starting to like him.

"I don't care if every walker in the city hears it" with those words something snapped in Maria, shrugging off Glenn's hands she stormed towards Rick and raised her bow.

"Put the fucking gun down Rick, you've taken one brother from me and so help me god I will not let you take another". The look in her eyes told Rick that she was being deadly serious but he couldn't let Daryl kill T-Dog.

"Your brother lowers his weapon and I'll lower mine"

"Daryl you drop that crossbow right now otherwise this could get real ugly" Maria glanced at her brother sending him one of her scariest glares. With a grunt Daryl lowered his crossbow causing Rick to lower his gun, then Maria lowered her bow.

A moment of silenced passed before Daryl asked "You got a do-rag or something?".

T-Dog looked at him for a moment before pulling one out of his pocket. Maria watched in confusion as Daryl took it and headed over to where Merle's hand lay. As he placed the rag on the floor she grimaced realising what he was doing. Picking up Merle's hand Daryl inspected it "guessing the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs". He folded the hand up in the rag before going over to Maria gesturing her to turn around.

"Hell no!" She exclaimed realising what he wanted "there in no way that is going in my bag" Maria crossed her arms and gave him a serious look. Daryl then moved behind Glenn and without even asking started to place it in his bag.

"That's discussing" Glenn mumbled, Maria had to contain a laugh at the look on Glenn's face.

"You could've just said no" she whispered to him,

"Yeah well your brother scares me" he whispered back and this time Maria couldn't contain the small snort of laughter. The older Dixon glared at the two who immediately straightened up.

"Must've used his belt to slow the bleedin'" Daryl announced looking round the area for more signs as to where Merle had gone. Maria joined him and immediately spotted a trail of blood, it was times like this where Maria was glad that her brothers forced her to learn hunting.

"Daryl there's a trail" Maria continued to follow the trail aware that the rest of the group was following her. The trail led them back inside the building and down the flight of stairs. They all silently walked through the building with Daryl and Maria in font weapons ready. They checked all the rooms for any signs of Merle but all rooms appeared to be empty.

Reaching the end of the hall and Maria noticed a puddle of blood, turning the corner she spotted two dead walkers. "He was here. Managed to take down two walkers with one hand."

"See what did I tell ya, huh? No one can kill Merle but Merle" Daryl bragged as he stepped into the room. Maria rolled her eyes at the look on Daryl's face, he had always looked up to their older brother and she could never understand why.

No one said anything as they headed further into the room towards a kitchen area. Maria covered her nose it smelt like something was burning in there.

"Ugh what is that smell?" Glenn groaned from behind her also holding his nose. As they entered the kitchen they saw that the flame on the stove was burning and a layer of something was on the top along with blood. Maria swallowed the bile that was in her throat, normally stuff like that didn't bother her but knowing that it was Merle's burnt skin and blood made her feel sick.

"What is that?" Glenn whispered to her as he looked at the scene with disgust.

"Burnt skin" she whispered back eyes glancing down to the floor, she couldn't look at anyone right now. A tentative hand rested on her shoulder and she immediately knew it was Glenn. His touch seemed to make some of the tension in her body disappear and she wasn't sure why his presence was calming to her and it scared her a little.

"Holy shit, he still had enough in him to break out of here" Daryl exclaimed from the open window that had slight blood stains on it.

"Why the hell would he do that?" T-Dog asked looking horrified

"Because he's a stupid son of a bitch" Maria spat "probably thought no one was coming back for him so he took his chance". Maria was getting angry, it seemed like nothing was going their way today.

"Well then let's go out there and find him" Daryl exclaimed getting ready to leave but was pushed back by Rick "Don't put your hands on me!"

"I get it he's family but we have to be smart about this" Rick hissed "we need a plan before we go wondering the streets looking for your brother, okay?"

Daryl took a moment before responding clearly weighing his options "fine, what do you suggest?"

"The guns, I'm not walking the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions" T-Dog spoke up first causing everyone else to nod in agreement. No one else really had weapons except Maria, Daryl and Rick (who on,y had four rounds).

"I think I've got an idea" Glenn said running into the other room, he was quickly followed by everyone else. Drawing a rough Map of the city block and using random object to represent people Glenn started to exsplain his plan to everyone "Daryl will be in this alley while me and Maria get the guns. Rick and T you'll be in another alley further up"

"Why split us up?"

"Why is Maria going with ya?" Daryl and Rick asked at the same time causing Glenn to sigh slightly in frustration.

"Firstly if I can't go back to Daryl I'll need to run to you" Turning to Daryl Glenn's voice turned slightly nervous "She's got a silent weapons and can cover me out there, plus she's light on her feet"

"Well I for one think it's a good idea" Maria piped up getting annoyed that this was taking so long she just wanted this over with. At her statement everyone seemed to quiet down and agree to Glenn's plan. They were all getting ready to leave when Daryl turned to Glenn "hey kid, what did you used to do before all this?"

"Delivered pizzas' why?" Glenn turned to Daryl with a confused look but the older Dixon just grunted before leaving the room. Glenn turned his confused look onto Maria who just shrugged before heading off after her brother.

* * *

The three of them made it to the alley and hid behind a dumpster waiting for a walker to pass. Daryl broke the silence whispering harshly to Glenn "you better take care of my little sister or I'll..."

"Kill me yeah don't worry she'll be fine" Glenn interrupted Daryl clearly anxious to get the task over and done with.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman" Daryl grumbled back

"He's Korean", "I'm Korean" Maria and Glenn said at the same time causing the older Dixon to roll his eyes at the two. "Whatever"

Maria couldn't help but let out a quiet snort of laughter at her older brother, he acted like he didn't care but she could tell that he held some respect for the younger man. Although he would never actually tell Glenn that but he trusted him.

"Right lets go" Glenn whispered, he lightly jogged out of the alley with Maria quickly following behind eyes darting around frantically looking for any immediate threat. So far they had been lucky as no walkers seemed to be all to interested in them. Maria quickly pulled Glenn down to the floor before a walker could spot them gesturing for them to go under the car as it seemed to be the quickest root.

Once the two had made it out from under the car they made a quick sprint for the guns Maria grabbed the bag as Glenn grabbed Rick's sherif hat that was next to it. Not caring if walkers saw them or not the two sprinted back towards the alleyway a jolt of fear ran through Maria as she heard shouts coming from that direction.

Upon rounding the corner to the alley Maria froze as her blood started to boil upon seeing two men hitting her brother with metal bats. She shoved the gun bag at Glenn and readied her arrow but it was too late as the men had already spotted them and came rushing at them shouting. Maria's bow was knocked from her hand as one of the men grabbed her, she started struggling and screaming as she saw the other man grab Glenn who had a vice like grip on the gun bag.

"Sons of bitches you let my sister go!" Daryl shouted from the floor clearly still in too much pain to get up. The next thing she knew the guy holding Glenn started screaming in pain causing him to release Glenn who crawled backwards. An arrow was sticking out of the guys ass, Maria probably would have laughed if she wasn't currently being dragged towards a car. Maria realised what was happening and started screaming again "Daryl! Let me go you bastards! Daryl help!"

Before she was able to scream anymore she was roughly showed into the car banging her head hard the the process, before she blacked out she could hear the angry screams of Daryl and Glenn in the background.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl shouted as he watched the car disappear. Glenn watched in shock still clutching the gun bag tightly to his chest out of fear. As the shock of recent events started to wear off Glenn found himself feeling guilty, he felt guilty that he didn't do more, that he froze and Maria was taken. It should of been him not her he kept saying to himself as he watched Daryl pace angrily in front of him.

Suddenly the older Dixon launched himself at a boy about Glenn's age pinning him to the wall with his arm on the boys throat. Glenn stood there shock for the first time noticing the kid and realising that he was part of the group that took Maria he felt anger start to bubble up inside him.

Glenn marched over to where Daryl and they boy were and shocking them both he aggressively asked "where is she?!". The boys scared eyes flickered over to Glenn before turning his attention back to Daryl.

"Like I told your friend, fuck you" the boy let out a breathless gasp as Daryl's arm pressed on his neck harder but before it could escalate Rick and T-Tog came racing round the corner pulling Daryl off of him.

"Get your hands off me! Him and his bastard friends took my sister!" Daryl got up in Rick's face "You gonna leave my sister for dead now to or are you gonna let me get some answers from this asshole?"

"I'm not leaving her behind. Let's try talking to the kid instead of trying to kill him" Daryl begrudgingly agreed dragging the boy back towards the building.

They entered one of the small office rooms and the the boy on the chair, surprisingly he didn't struggle probably thinking he had no chance of escape with four of them there.

"I need you to tell me where your friends took the girl" Rick said trying his best to remain calm. Daryl was angrily stomping round the room clearly trying his best not to loose it while Glenn sat on a nearby table feeling guilty that he hadn't done more to help his friend.

"I ain't telling you shit" the boy spat back trying his best to sound confident.

"Man what the hell happened out there?" T-Dog asked

"I told ya!" Daryl was getting frustrated with the constant questions "they jumped me"

"You jumped me. Started screaming about trying to find his brother like its my damn fault"

"Your people took my sister could've taken my brother Merle too" Daryl retorted a glimmer of hope in his voice.

"Merle" the kid snorted out a laugh "what kinda name is Merle I wouldn't name my dog that, but your sister well she's one damn fine bitch" the kid had a smirk on his face clearly trying to piss Daryl off even more.

Before anyone could react Daryl went charging towards the kid a look of pure rage plastered onto his face. He was inches away when Rick suddenly pulled him back trying to calm him down.

Glenn got up from the table his body filled with rage at the comment, Maria was his best friend he felt closer to her then he did anyone else in camp. He knew that it had taken her a lot to open up to him like she had done and to trust him with her life, he would be damned if he lost her now.

Suddenly he remembered what Daryl had put in his backpack and walked over to it slowly pulling the wrapped hand out. He normally wouldn't even think of something like this but at this point he was desperate to get her back. Turning around Glenn saw Daryl staring at him, the older Dixon's eyes flickered down to the hand before he gave Glenn and approving nod.

"You wanna see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl took the hand from Glenn unwrapping it and throwing it down into the boys lap. Letting out a scream the boy fell off his chair and scrambled back towards the wall with a look of pure terror on his face.

Satisfied with the reaction Daryl leaned down getting in the kids face "think I'll start with the feet this time" he snared making the boy wince in fear.

Rick went to intervene but Glenn stopped him, moving to stand next to Daryl he looked down at the boy "We don't want to hurt your people, we just want our friend back, please".

The boy looked around the group of men in front of him, he was scared for his life but he could see the desperation in there faces, he could tell he wasn't getting out of this and agreed.

"Okay I'll take you to them"

* * *

 **Note**

 _I'm so so so soooo sorry that it's been so long since I last updated, the last few months have been hell and honestly there is still some stuff going on that's stressing me out (boy drama, honestly life was so much simpler when I wasn't dating lol) but I've got my writing inspiration back now So be ready for more regular updates! I'm so excited to be writing this again I have so many plans for this story and I'm going to make it my main focus!_

 **Mila** : _thank you! I'm currently planning the Rosita/OC fic but no sure when I'll post it :)_

 **NicIrv19** : _aw thank you so much, so sorry this chapter was such a long wait but I hope you enjoyed it!_

 **SpringBorn** : _that's so sweet thank you! I hope you liked this chapter again so sorry for the wait :)_


	12. Chapter 12: Rescue

**_Chapter 12 - Rescue_**

Maria woke up to complete darkness along with a splitting headache. She groaned softly while struggling to sit up as her hands were tied blind her back, she could feel dried blood on the side of her face from when her kidnappers had forced her into the backseat of their car.

The only light source in the room was coming from the crack under the door where she could see shadows moving, she went to scream something at them but found that she couldn't as her mouth had been taped.

Maria felt tears of frustration come to her eyes, she felt weak and defenceless and she hated it. The feelings weren't knew to her she had felt them many a time in the past, a past that she was still trying to get over and move on from. But that was easier said than done.

Maria sat silently in the room deliberating what the best corse of action would be, she had a feeling her brother would stop at nothing to find her which provided her with some comfort. She had thought about trying to escape but she didn't know where she was or how many people were beyond that door.

After sitting in the room for what felt like hours Maria's head shot up as she heard the sounds of voices from outside her door before it burst open. Maria flinched as a tall beefy man stomped through the door straight towards her. Maria's instincts kicked in as she shuffled her way into the nearest corner of the room and when the man got close enough she lashed out with her foot hitting his knee causing him to faulted in pain. Two more men quickly rushed into the room and grabbed her arms before she had chance to do anymore damage they roughly lifted her off the floor. The man who she had kicked scowled at her before roughly putting a bag over her head.

The two men dragged her down a hallways and up a flight of stairs causing her to trip multiple times due to not being able to see where she was going. A door was opened and she could feel a faint breeze caress her skin, Maria assumed that she was probably on the roof. She could hear faint voices down below but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Maria felt a glimmer of relief pass through her as she could've sworn she's just heard Daryl's voice. Suddenly she was pulled forward and the bag was ripped from her head, she gazed down below and saw her group. Rick had a look of determination in his eyes, Daryl looked livid but Maria could see the hint of fear in his eyes and Glenn her best friend looked at her with a mixture of guilt and worry although surprisingly she could see anger in his eyes too.

Maria met all of there eyes with her pleading ones, she was silently pleading that they wouldn't do anything stupid just to get her back. Maria didn't want them to risk there's lives for her, to her she wasn't worth that.

She was cut off from seeing the others when she was dragged back from the edge of the roof and back down the stairs. This time however she wasn't placed in a dark room but instead a small office type area. The two men kept a hold of her until a man (she assumed he was there leader) walked into the room.

"Untie her" The men immediately did what he said as Maria looked on in confusion at what was happening "I am truly sorry for this I really am, my name is Guillermo I'm the leader here"

Finally being able to speak again Maria only managed to reply "what the fuck?"

"I am truly sorry chica I never wanted this but we need those guns to protect are people. Their old and unable to protect themselves" he explained "I never wanted it to go this far but we're desperate"

"Are you stupid?" Maria spat "You kidnapped me! Do you just expect them to do the trade? What if they don't go for it huh?"

"All I do is apologise but please believe me when I say I'm truly sorry and that no harm will come to you here" Guillermo sighed "We'll try to convince them to do the trade, honestly I never thought of them saying no they really seem to care about you"

"Whatever" Maria mumbled "how do I even know you're telling the truth?"

"Let me show you something" Guillermo smiled slightly as he walked out the room gesturing for her to follow. As the walked down hallways Maria's eyes were darting from left to right trying to find an exit just in case things went south. She honestly wasn't sure if she believed him or not he seemed sincere but then again he could just be a really good actor.

Guillermo lead her through a set of double door into a nicer part of the building, they passed doorways and upon seeing the elderly sick people Maria felt her heart clench slightly. They walked into a large room filled with people playing chess and chatting, Maria turned to Guillermo who has stopped walking. "You believe me now? I just want to keep them safe"

"I get it but you're still stupid for doing what you did" Maria crossed her arms over her chest as she glared softly at the man. She understood why he did it, these people were defenceless hell most of them probably didn't know what was going on outside.

"Guillermo? Who is this girl?" An elderly woman walking towards them asked.

"She's a friend Mary, her names Maria" the older woman stared at Maria intently causing her to shift uncomfortably.

"Are you hurt dear?". Maria had been so distracted that she'd forgotten about the cut on the side of her head "come dear lets get you cleaned up" the older woman grabbed Maria's hand leading her over to a table.

Once did her wound had been cleaned and a butterfly bandage was place onto it she found herself relaxing slightly. She had felt uncomfortable being amount so many people but after talking to some of them she felt more confident.

Barking interrupted the slightly awkward conversation that she was having with the older woman. Maria looked down and an instant smile adorned her featured upon seeing the small dog staring at her. Maria couldn't help herself as she picked up the small dog and cuddled it into her chest. Dogs were Maria's favourite they were loyal and so full of love, she'd always preferred them to people they couldn't hurt her like people could.

Her attention was drawn away from the puppy by a large group of people surrounding an elderly man who was struggling to breathe. Maria got up out of her chair still holding the dog. She made her way to just outside of the circle she knew there was nothing she could do so standing back was her only option. They were stood there for a couple of minutes before someone came rushing in to help.

"Maria!" Her head snapped round only to be met with the sight of a chest as an arm wrapped around her shoulders tightly. Maria tensed for a few seconds before realising that it was Daryl hugging her, she slipped her free arm around her brother patting him on the back awkwardly. "Did they hurt you? I'll kill them if they-"

"Daryl!" Maria pulled away from her brother giving him a stern look "just let it go okay they had their reasons, even if they were stupid about it"

"Mia are you sure you're okay? They told us they were going to feed you to dogs" Glenn looked at her with a worried look but Maria could see the relief in his eyes.

Maria let out a soft chuckle at Glenn's comment before holding up the small dog for her group to see "you mean these adorable things?", the group looked in shock at the little dog who let out a bark at them. Maria saw Rick leave with Guillermo probably to have a serious word with him.

"You're not keeping it" Daryl grumbled as he watched Maria petting the dog "don't need anymore bitches in camp" He grumbled before following Rick well aware that Maria was glaring at his retreating form.

Maria set the dog down letting it go back to his bed as Glenn walked over to her. "I'm glad you're okay Mia, I was uh worried about you"

"No need to worry about me I can take care of myself" Maria stated flashing Glen a quick grin.

"I know but that's not going to stop me from worrying about you" Glen. Looked at Maria with such sincerity that it shocked her. She wasn't used to people caring for her or worrying about her it was all knew to her. She just stared at him unable to say anything.

The staring was just started to become awkward when Daryl stomped into the room throwing Maria's bow at her which she expertly caught. "We're leaving lets go" before turning round and heading towards the door. Maria gave Guillermo a nod before following after her brother.

* * *

"Man I can't believe you gave away half of our guns and ammo" Daryl grumbled at Rick as they were walking back towards where they'd parked the van. Daryl had been in a mood all day constantly questioning Rick and the choices he was making. Maria understood why as the sheriff had handcuffed their brother to a roof but in Maria's eyes he'd all but made up for that by helping them. "They'll probably be dead soon anyway" that comment caused Maria to finally snap at her older brother.

"Shut up Daryl! You saw what it was like in there they needed those guns so can you just stop!" Maria's outburst caused the others to look at her in shock, it was very rare for her to raise her voice especially at Daryl.

"They kidnapped you Maria so sorry that I don't really care what's best for them" Daryl snapped back at his sister causing Maria to grit her teeth in anger.

However there argument was cut short as the group stopped at where the van was supposed to be "oh god, where's the van?" Glenn asked panicked turning to the rest of the group with wide eyes.

"Merle" Rick hissed through gritted teeth

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp" the group looked at each other in worry at the elder Dixon's comment. They all started walking back to camp making sure to keep a quick pace, all of them praying that everything would be okay.

After what felt like hours of walking the sky had darkened and it was clear that the small group were beginning to get tired. Maria just wanted to rest but she powered on knowing it was important for them to get back to camp as soon as possible. She wanted to see Merle again if he'd made it there that was.

"Hey" Rick said softly from next to her "I didn't get a chance to say that I'm glad we got you back. Also thank you for what you said to Daryl earlier"

"You don't need to thank me, you did the right thing I just hope they make it you know" Maria whispered. Rick put a hand on Maria's shoulder making her tense slightly at the unexpected contact.

"They will" he gave her a reassuring smile but Maria still wasn't sure. This world was unpredictable and death seemed to be around every corner.

The continued walking for another ten minutes before the sounds of screams and gunfire filled the air "oh god" Maria whispered in horror realising that those sounds were coming from camp. She took off in a dead sprint towards camp not stopping to see if the others were following she just assumed they were.

With her feet pounding into the floor she could feel her heart pounding just as hard out of fear. Her previously injured ankle was throbbing slightly but she ignored it. Maria prayed for everyone to be okay but she knew that wouldn't be the case. Her lungs were burning and she could barely catch her breath but that wasn't going to stop her.

Finally she arrived at the outskirts of camp where she saw people huddled around the RV with Shane shooting his gun. Eyes scanning the camp Maria felt fear wash over her as she saw Sophia and Carol being trapped by Walkers, without even a second of hesitation Maria fired arrow after arrow at the walkers hitting her target every time. Moving further into camp Maria kept shooting at any walker that came near the mother and daughter as they made their way to the RV.

"Mia behind you!" Someone shouted, without hesitation Maria grabbed her hunting knife while spinning round of her heels and plunging it into the eye of the rotting walker that she had failed to notice. Looking around Maria noticed that the gunfire had stopped and all the walkers were finally dead.

Maria walked towards the rest of the group and that's when she noticed the body lying next to the RV with a sobbing Andrea. Maria started in shock at the pale Amy who lay lifeless in her sisters arms. Breath catching and tears welling in her eyes Maria felt herself unable to move even as a pair of small arms wrapped around her waist in a tight embrace. Maria couldn't take her eyes off Amy's dead body she hadn't known the girl long but Amy was nice to her and she could've seen them becoming friend in the future. The tears finally started spelling as Maria slowly wrapped her arms around Sophia and hugged her tightly as the girl sobbed into her shirt, she felt Carol place a hand on her shoulder the older woman also crying.

Maria felt some relief that Sophia and Carol were safe but as she looked at Amy's body she couldn't help the dark thoughts that crept their way into her mind. Anyone of them could die next it was just a matter of time, tonight had just proved to Maria that nowhere and no one was safe anymore and that's what scared her more than anything.

* * *

 **Note**

 _Another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. Not much Glenn and Maria interaction but don't worry there will be plenty of that next chapter. Also Maria is pretty pissed at Daryl right now for the way he's acting and that will definitely come up again next chapter, I'm so excited to write it!_

 **Springborn** \- _thank you for the review, hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _Thank you to everyone that has followed and favourited this story, over 60 follows now so thank you so much!_


	13. Chapter 13: Aftermath and Arguements

**_Chapter 13 - Aftermath and Arguments_**

The next morning Maria was awoken by the sun shining through the window of the RV, looking to her right she saw Sophia curled up in a sleeping bag next to her. After the walkers had attacked camp Sophia and Carol had dragged her into the RV. Sophia hadn't left Maria's side since she had spent the night trying to calm down the young girl before she finally fell to sleep.

Slowly sitting up Maria saw Carol preparing breakfast, the older woman smiled at Maria as she handed her a bowl filled with canned fruit. "Thanks, where is everyone?"

"They started cleaning up camp, thought I'd let you sleep in for a bit you looked like you needed it" the older woman's smile faded at remembering the events of the night before.

Maria ate her breakfast at the table she was glad to finally have some food as she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. Sophia had woken up and joined her however she was just pushing the fruit inside the bowl around with a spoon.

"Hey you need to eat something" Maria said softly to the girl. Sophia just shrugged her shoulders clearly not in the mood for talking "I know you don't want to but you need to keep your strength up okay? Please" Sophia looked at Maria who gave her a small smile. Picking up the spoon Sophia slowly began to eat, Maria saw Carol give her a greatful look out of the corner of her eye.

Once they were done eating Maria put her bowl in the sink before heading towards the RV door. However before she could get there a small hand grabbed her hand in a vice like grip, "Where are you going?" Sophia questioned fear and panic laced her words making Maria's face soften.

"I'm just going outside for a little bit I need to see if I can help. You stay with your mom okay? I'll be fine" Maria gently tugged her hand free from the young girls grip quickly making her way out of the RV and into the fresh air. She saw her brother first Daryl was going around making sure the dead stayed dead, while everyone else moved the bodies into piles. Looking to her left Maria felt her breath hitch when she saw Andrea still leaning over Amy's body, part of her felt responsible for her death maybe if she'd stayed she could've helped prevent this disaster.

"No!" Maria's head whipped round when she heard the yell. She spotted Daryl and Morales moving a body towards the fire as Glenn stood there "This is for geeks our people go in that row over there" Glenn pointed to the row of bodies that we're going to be buried.

"What's the difference? They're all infected" Daryl grumbled continuing to drag the body towards the fire. Maria's eyes narrowed at her brother as she made her way over to stand near the distressed looking Glenn.

"Our people go in that row over there" Glenn repeated with raw emotion in his voice "we don't burn them! We bury them, you understand?". The two men stopped to look at Glenn for a moment before realising that he wasn't letting this go and dragged the body to the row instead.

Maria stepped closer towards Glenn she wanted to comfort him but wasn't sure how. Her attention was once again grabbed by Daryl who seemed to be taking this opportunity to voice his opinions on the matter,

"You reap what you sow" Maria groaned having a feeling where this little rant was going "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" Daryl spat as he stomped around camp. Maria's eyes narrowed in anger at her brother as she left Glenn's side leaving him looking worried after her. Maria marched over to Daryl and grabbed him by the arm dragging him towards their tent away from everyone.

Once they arrived outside the tent Maria let go of her brother "The hell was that for?!" Daryl spat as he rubbed his sore arm.

"You think they deserved this? You think those people deserved to die? you think Amy deserved to die? just because of Merle?" Maria questioned her equally as angry brother.

"Assholes left Merle to die up there on that roof!"

"It was an accident! Hell they even went back with us to help save Merles sorry ass! Merle got himself stuck on that roof not them, I told him to stop the drugs but he didn't listen! So don't you go blaming these people for our brothers mistakes" Maria spat back at him fed up with his constant attitude.

"Yeah of course you'd blame Merle, you blame Merle for everything. You know what I bet your happy that he's gone, I bet-" but before Daryl could finish he felt a sharp sting on his cheek as his head turned to the side, he turned his head and looked at an angry red faced Maria in shock.

All Maria could see was red at her brothers words, she harshly replied "How dare you, I love Merle and you know that! Yes we fought and argued but he was still my brother and I still love him. When Rick told me he left him on that roof I nearly went straight there by myself to get him. So don't you dare say that I'm happy he's gone, he may have been an ass but he was still family." Maria paused as tears started to stream down her face "and I couldn't save him just like I couldn't save Amy o-or anyone, I couldn't-".

All the stress from the last couple days suddenly came crashing down on Maria like a ton of bricks, sobs wrecked her body as she cried. She'd lost Merle and now Amy and she blamed herself, she knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help it. At this moment in time Maria felt like she'd failed. Upon seeing his sister break down Daryl immediately regretted everything he'd said to her, he was so consumed by him own grief that he didn't even think about how his little sister was handling it all. He grabbed her into a tight hug as her tears soaked his shirt, he gently stroked her hair trying to calm her down.

"Ain't non of that your fault Mar, you hear me? Nothing is your fault. I'm sorry for what I said now come on pull yourself together and stop being a pussy" Daryl smiled slightly as Maria let out a soft chuckle against his chest. After a couple of minutes Maria finally let go of his shirt and composed herself.

"I'm sorry too, we need to stick together now more than ever" Maria managed a small smile as she looked at her brother, she felt much better after getting all that off her chest. She was normally the type of person to keep all her emotions on the inside but the last couple of days had just caused her to crumble.

"It's okay lil sis" Daryl put his arm around her shoulders "We Dixon's gotta stick together now, I ain't letting you out of my sight so let's go help clean up camp then maybe we can do a little hunting. What d'ya say?"

"Sounds great Dar, just try not to piss anyone off okay" Maria just chuckled as Daryl rolled his eyes at her before leading her back in the direction of camp. Maria just hoped that things would start to settle down now.

* * *

Upon arriving back at camp the siblings noticed that the atmosphere had grown tense, everyone seemed to be standing round looking worried at Jim. Maria looked around nervously wondering what was happening now.

"The hells going on?" Daryl growled out while picking up the axe looking suspiciously at Jim as the mans eyes darted around the group frantically.

"Jim's been bit!" Jacqui exclaimed clearly panicked. Maria tensed upon hearing the news, she looked towards her brother who was glaring at the man clearly pissed that he hadn't informed the group sooner. Everyone was shouting over each other causing Jim to panic and pick up the shovel trying to defend himself. However T-Dog managed to get behind him and grab his arms as Daryl lifted up his shirt revealing a bite. Everyone quickly moved away from Jim not wanting to be near the infected man.

The group stood around in a circle after they calmed Jim down and made him take a seat while they discussed his fate. Everyone was arguing about what to do and no progress was being made causing Maria to feel agitated.

"I say we put an axe in his head and the dead girls and be done with it" Daryl spoke up. Maria nudged him in the ribs giving him a scowl.

"Is that what you'd want?" Shane asked

"Yeah and I'd thank you while you did it"

"Listen" Dale interrupted "I never thought I'd say it but Daryl's right" everyone seemed to look at Dale with a mixture of shock and disgust.

"He's not some rabid dog Dale! He's a sick man! If we start down that road where do we draw the line?" Rick hissed clearly angry that they were even suggesting killing Jim.

"It's not our decision to make" Maria spoke up for the first time causing all eyes to turn towards her. Maria herself was shocked that she'd even spoken up, she didn't like to get involved in these type of situations. In her eyes they had no right to decide the mans fate it should be up to Jim what happens, it was his life after all.

"Like hell it ain't. This is our lives Maria and I'm not risking him turning. I have zero tolerance for walkers or them to be" Daryl looked at his sister with hardened eyes clearly just wanted to get this discussion over with.

"What about the CDC?" Rick piped up "they could have a cure, if there was any government left it would be there"

Maria wasn't convinced about Rick's idea. To her going to the CDC was to risky it was too close to the city and they had limited gas so if there was nothing there they would be screwed. Shane and a couple others weren't convinced by the idea either. Shane wanted to go to fort benning which in Maria's eyes wasn't any better she wanted to have hope that there was a military base where they would be safe but to her it just sounded like another pipe dream.

"You do what you need to do" Daryl cut into the conversation "but someone has to have some balls around here and do what needs to be done"

"Daryl no!" Maria shouted as she watched Daryl run towards Jim with the axe raised. However before he could get to him Rick pulled his gun out and pointed it as Daryl. Maria swore under her breath at Rick tired of the man always pointing a gun at her brother. She felt a hand on her shoulder holding her back, Maria turned to see Dale giving her a concerned look.

"We don't kill the living" Rick snapped at Daryl. Maria could've laughed at that statement as Rick was currently holding a gun to his head. Daryl slowly lowered the axe and turned to stare at Rick

"That's funny coming from the man pointing a gun to my head...again" Daryl stabbed the axe into the ground before storming off back towards his tent.

Maria stood there and watched as everyone dispersed to go do their own thing, Rick had taken Jim into the RV for his own protection. Maria wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked round camp wondering what to do. Feeling someone stand beside her Maria turned seeing Glenn with a nervous look on his face. "Hey Mia, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine why'd you ask?"

"It just it looks like you've been crying" Glenn look his cap off and nervously started playing with it "and I heard some of the argument between you and Daryl"

Maria tensed at hearing this she hadn't realised that she'd been that loud "oh...well it's over now, nothing to worry about"

"Well if you need to talk I'm here, I-I mean you don't have to I just well, you're my friend and I care about you" Glenn rambled as his gaze lowered to the floor. Maria let a small smile cross her features as she gently nudged Glenn with her shoulder

"Thanks Glenn" Glenn nodded as he put the cap back on his head. The two then jumped upon hearing a gunshot, they looked over to where Andrea sat cradling Amy sobbing. Maria felt her heart go out to the woman her and Andrea may not be close but she knew what it was like to loose someone and how hard it can be.

Feeling pressure on her hand Maria looked down to see Glenn's had tightly squeezing hers, Maria felt a warm feeling go through her, comfort? Embarrassment? She wasn't sure. She awkwardly coughed "uh Glenn can you let go of my hand"

Looking down at their conjoined hands Glenn's cheeks turned a light pink before he let go of her hand and shoved them into his pockets "I should uh go help get the last of the bodies ready, we'll be burying them soon"

"Yeah I better go check on Sophia, so yeah" the two awkwardly parted ways, Maria trying to shake the feeling she felt from Glenn holding her hand and Glenn cursing himself for making a fool out of himself.

* * *

Sophia had refused to leave Maria's side since seeing her again, so there Maria stood with Sophia and Carol as the camp buried their dead. It was only when she saw Sophia and Carol crying did she realise that Ed was one of them, Maria hated the man for what he had done but she still did her best to comfort the little girl that was currently glued to her side. Dale had said a few words as the rest of camp mourned the loss of their friends and family, everyone knew that they'd have to move on after this so this was the last chance to say goodbye.

Once words had been said and tears had been shed people made their way back down to camp. They were all drained physically and emotionally from the day's events, most of them just wanted to go back to their tents and sleep if they could but a decision on where they would go next needed to be made.

The group sat around the campfire, Maria was sat between Sophia and Glenn cleaning her arrows when Shane started to talk. "I've been thinking about Rick's plan, the CDC. I've known this man my whole life and I trust him with it. Now there are no guarantees but I trust his instincts. I believe sticking together is the best thing for us right now so in the morning we'll be heading out to the CDC, if you want to come. Okay?"

The camp remained silent each person lost in their own thoughts. Maria wasn't sure the CDC was the best bet it was too dangerous, but then what if she was wrong? What if the CDC was where they needed to go. If they'd suggested the CDC to her a couple weeks ago Maria would've said no and took off with her brothers. But now she felt like she couldn't leave these people she was getting attached to them even though it scared her. Dale, Carol, Sophia and Glenn they all appeared to care for her and she found herself caring for them too something she never thought would happen. So she wasn't about to run away from them. No she would follow them and help keep them safe even if she didn't fully agree with the direction they were going in.

* * *

 **Note**

 _Can't believe season one is almost over, only two chapters left and I have some...interesting things planned for the CDC ;) Thank you for 70 follows! Also just wanted to say that I've started a Rick/OC fic as well if you're interested in reading that._

 **SpringBorn** \- _Thank you for the review! I kinda wanted to show another side to Maria :)_

 _Thank you to everyone that has followed favourited and reviewed this story!_


	14. Chapter 14: Hope

**_Chapter 14 - Hope_**

As the sun started to rise everyone around camp was busy preparing to leave. Maria had slept in her tent last night, though she didn't sleep much due to nervousness of what the next day would bring. She could tell that Daryl was also apprehensive about the CDC although he didn't voice his opinions on the matter. Since Merle had disappeared Maria had notice a change in Daryl, he was more willing to work with the group and distanced himself less from them. Although he was still snappy and acted like he didn't care she knew that just like her he was getting attached to these people.

Maria walked out of the tent carrying her backpack full of clothes, knives and two photograph's. One was of her and Daryl at Maria's high school graduation, Daryl had a proud smile on his face with an arm slung over his sisters shoulder. He was the only one that had bothered to show up that day. The other photo was of all three of the Dixon siblings on the day of Maria's 21st birthday, the brothers had bought her a new hunting bow, although she was pretty sure Merle used drug money to buy it, she didn't care. It was one of the times her and Merle were actually getting along and Maria wanted to remember that time. Maria didn't have many happy memories at home but the ones she did have she wanted to cherish forever. Those were the only two photograph's that her father hadn't destroyed, they were worth more than the most precious jewels to her and now that they'd lost Merle keeping them safe was important.

Making her way into camp Maria threw her sleeping bag and backpack into the bed of Daryl's truck with also contained their tent along with Merles bike. Looking around she saw everyone starting to gather in a small circle and went to join them. Shane was discussing what to do if they ran into trouble on the road and how they all needed to stick together.

"We're not going" Morales spoke up after Shane had stopped talking "We have family in Birmingham"

"You'll have no one to watch your back" It was clear that Rick wasn't comfortable with letting them go on their own.

"I need to do what's best for my family" Morales spoke. Rick looked like he was going to argue but decided against it, instead he handed the man a gun and a box of bullets. Maria heard Daryl scoff from beside her clearly unhappy, She rolled her eyes choosing to ignore her brother.

Everyone said their tear filled goodbyes to the small family. Maria wasn't close to them so she just stood back and watched as the little girl handed Sophia a doll. Maria watched on with sadness at seeing Sophia being separated from her best friend, now her and Carl were the only two children left in the group.

When all the goodbyes were done everyone headed towards their vehicles. Maria got into the passengers seat while Daryl took the drivers, the two siblings remained silent for some time before Daryl decided to break it.

"You think Rick made the right call?" Daryl asked his sister while briefly glancing to the side to see her reaction. Maria shifted in her seat and sighed loudly.

"Honestly I'm not sure. It's too close to the city and if it all goes wrong we're screwed" Maria paused for a moment and turned to face Daryl "but if he's right then we could have a chance there. Also I trust Rick's judgment more than Shane's"

"You noticed it to?" Daryl asked his sister.

"Yeah I'm struggling to see how they were best friends before all this" Maria mumbled. There's clear tension between the two men and Maria could only see it getting worse as the days went on. Shane was clearly not happy with having Rick back for more reasons than one. "If we have to choose between them i'd pick Rick every time"

"Even though he left our brother handcuffed to a roof?"

"He tried to get him back Dar, when are you going to let that go? He helped save my life didn't he?" Maria knew Daryl still wasn't Rick's biggest fan but he had to see that Rick was a good guy.

"I know just gonna take some time is all" Daryl grumbled. All of a sudden the the line of cars stopped and they heard the RV horn go. Maria immediately opened her door and made her way towards the RV with Daryl not far behind. As the siblings walked over to Dale Maria called out "radiator hose?"

"Yes and I can't patch it either, it's more tape than hose now" Dale stated as the rest of the group began to gather. "I could try something but eventually it'll need a new one"

"Think I see a gas station up ahead" Shane called out lowering his binoculars "I'll go check it out see if I can find anything". Shane soon left with T-Dog too see if they could find anything, the rest of the group stood around chatting. Maria tutted at the fact no one was watching their surroundings except her, they had been lucky as to not see any walkers so far but how long would that last? Maria wondered how some of the group could look so at ease out in the open, Daryl seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he rolled his eyes as he watched the other side of the road for any dangers.

"Hey" a voice said from the left of Maria. Maria's lips twitched into a small smile as she saw Glenn standing there "what you doing?"

"Someone's got to keep an eye out for danger while the other gossip"

"You know I'm glad you decided to come with us, I was worried for a second that you wouldn't" Glenn admitted

"Well I wasn't sure about coming at first to be honest. Then I realised that I couldn't leave you." Maria's eyes went wide as she realised what she had said "uh I mean I couldn't just leave Sophia and Dale"

"Yeah yeah of course" Glenn mumbled looking somewhat solum. Maria felt bad as she looked at the sadness in Glenn's eyes, truth is that she'd miss him the most if she had left and was afraid to admit it.

"And of course I'd miss my favourite pizza boy" She nudged him lightly. Glenn groaned but a small smile appeared on his face as he looked back at her.

"I thought we agreed not to call me that" Glenn grumbled

"I agreed to no such thing" Maria stated as a rare smile crossed her face while watching Glenn roll his eyes dramatically. However before the conversation continued Jacqui rushed out of the RV exclaiming that Jim's condition had gotten worse.

The group stood round the RV waiting for Rick to come back out. Shane and T-Dog had arrived back unfortunately empty handed. After a couple minutes Rick came back out the RV his face awash with guilt and sadness. "He says he wants us to leave him here"

Maria didn't feel right about just leaving Jim on the side of the road to die and it seemed like most of the group agreed. However it wasn't their choice it was Jim's and the group decided to respect the dying mans wishes. Maria watched on as Rick and Shane helped Jim to sit under a tree, a pang of sadness going through her. She hadn't known Jim well but she heard what he had been through. Everyone was saying their goodbyes as Maria stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do, her eyes met Jim's and she gave him a nod he seemed to understand what it meant and smiled weakly at her.

The group made their way back to their respective vehicles and the journey to the CDC continued. The rest of the journey was done in silence, Maria was too lost in her thoughts to talk. She felt wrong about just leaving Jim to die on the side of the road, she knew that he was going to die anyway even if they did get him to the CDC in time.

About one hour later as the sun was starting to set they had finally made it to the CDC. Maria looked out of the dirty truck window with a scowl on her face. The ground was littered with dead bodies some civilians but most military, the place looked dead and Maria was starting to regret her decision.

Grabbing her how she hopped out of the truck closing the door gently behind her. The rest of the group got out of their cars doing the same, they all had shattered looks on their faces upon seeing the state of the place. Rick and Shane took point while Maria and Daryl were at the back looking for any threats.

Maria almost gagged at the smell of the rotting corpses that littered the ground around them. She could hear the rest of the group coughing as they covered their noses.

"I'm starting to regret this" Maria grumbled to herself. The sun was fast setting and being this close to the city with nowhere to go and hardly any fuel was not a good idea.

When they got to the white shutters Rick banged on them in frustration, the gamble they made hadn't paid off. Maria saw Rick's broken expression, it looked like he'd lost all hope. Maria felt bad for the sheriff but then reminded herself that he was the reason why they were here.

"There's nobody here" T-Dog stated

"Then why are the shutters down" Rick hissed refusing to believe that this was a dead end. Maria turned around to check the surrounding area when she spotted walkers heading towards them, she let out a grunt of frustration before alerting everyone.

"Walkers!" Maria and Daryl shot down the walkers that had gotten too close for comfort before turning back around. The group had looks of fear on their faces.

"You lead us into a graveyard!" Daryl exclaimed stomping his way towards where Rick was stood.

"He made a call" Dale tried to reason

"Well it was the wrong damn call" Maria hissed out finally speaking up. She was pissed and scared, where would they go now? The RV was ready to break down at any minute and they hardly had any fuel left.

"Shut up!" Shane snapped at her, which on his part was a mistake as Daryl turned his angry gaze towards him.

"Listen asshole you don't talk to her like that" He tried to get up in Shane's face only to be pushed back by Maria and T-Dog.

"Stop it! We are not going to get anywhere by arguing so can you two just cool it for two fucking minutes" Maria managed to keep her voice calm despite her rising levels of anger. The two men reluctantly backed away from each other but the tension in the air was still thick.

"Where are we gonna go? We can't be this close to the city after dark" Lori was the one to break the tension filled silence first.

"Fort Benning Rick, it's still an option" Shane suggested

"On what? We have no food or fuel and its 100 miles" Andrea snapped back

"125" Maria and Glenn corrected at the same time "we checked the map" Glenn continued as Maria split off from the group to take out a walker that was getting too close. She felt a tug on the back of her shirt and looked down to see Sophia who was looking at her with tear filled eyes.

"Are we going to die here Maria" the broken voice of the little girl caused Maria's heart to break. She didn't care what it took but she was not going to allow them to die here, no matter what. "No sweetheart we aren't"

"Promise"

"I promise, I won't ever let anything happen to you" Maria saw Sophia crack a small smile which in turn caused her to do the same. Carol appeared by Sophia grabbing her hand as she forced a weak smile in Maria's direction as the group started to move back towards the cars however they were stopped by Rick's urgent voice.

"The camera it moved!" Rick exclaimed looking back at the group with a glint of hope in his eyes. Maria just sighed however thinking he was just seeing what he wanted to see. While Shane was trying to convince the man that it was nothing Maria felt someone stand next to her.

"You okay?" He whispered in her ear.

"Gotta be" Maria said nodding her head towards Sophia who was clutching both hers and her mothers hands tightly. Glenn nodded his head in understanding before turning back to face the arguing due.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick was shouting at the camera "we have women and children, please!" He started to beg as Shane dragged him away before he could bang on the shutters again.

Rick managed to pull from Shane's hold while the rest of the group were starting to make their way back to the vehicles. However they only got a couple of steps before they heard a noise from behind them, turning around they saw that the shutters had lifted and the door was open letting a bright light wash over them. Maria stood their in shock unable to believe that this was happening, could there actually be hope?

* * *

 **Note**

 _I'm back! I know it's been like 7months (whoops sorry) but I finally have a new chapter for you all, yay! Yes I'm going to start writing again and this story will be my main focus. I think this is the story that I enjoy writing the most to be honest and I have so much planned for it as well._

 **Jestalnaker9400** \- _Thank you so much I'm glad you are enjoying the story. Ahh you'll just have to wait and see :)_

 **Springborn** \- _Thank you, I can't wait to develope her character more especially in season 2!_

 **Ellixwolf** \- _I have up to the end of season 3 planned and I'm so excited to start writing again!_

 **Althea M** \- _well it's certainly been a long wait for this chapter xD I love the Glenn/Maggie storyline and there probably will be some elements of it in the story but not too muc_ h.

 **Alyrockyforever** \- _Thank you so much!_

 **UnknownReaderHasJoined** \- _Thank you!_

 _Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed this story. Thanks for reading!_

 _\- Emily X_


	15. Chapter 15: Doubts and Happiness

**_Chapter 15 - Doubts and Happiness_**

Maria stood there in shock as she watched the shutters come up and the doors to the CDC open. The group walked slowly inside keeping their weapons raised In case of any threat. Once they were all inside Maria looked around and saw no one, a voice from the top of the stairs however caused her and everyone else to look up.

"Are any of you bitten" the man was in a lab coat and holding a gun, it was obvious that he was probably one of the doctors that used to work here. Maria's eyes narrowed at the man holding the gun, she was ready to shoot him if he were to pose any threat.

"No one of our group was, but he didn't make it" Rick answered his head bowed, it was clear that he still felt guilt over what happened to Jim. The doctor looked at the the group for a moment before finally nodding.

"And what is it you want?"

"A chance" was Rick's simple answer.

The doctor seemed to think about it for a moment, his eyes scanned the group once more before answering "you submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission"

The group seemed to all physically relax except for Maria who still didn't fully trust the doctor, she just couldn't figure out why. As some of the group rushed out to get the bags Maria took a protective stance in front of Sophia and Carl. She wasn't as easily trusting as the other members of the group, she kept a close eye on the doctor who looked uncomfortable under her stare.

Finally the rest of the group arrived back with the bags, Daryl handed Maria hers as they all headed towards an elevator. Maria stood in the corner squished between Daryl and Glenn. She could see Daryl kept eyeing the gun that Jenner was carrying. "Doctors always go round packing heat like that?"

"Uh no but I Familiarised myself" The doctor shifted uncomfortably "You all look harmless enough, except you, I'll need to keep my eye on you" The doctor stated jokingly at Carl who smiled. Maria found herself relax a little, maybe she was wrong about the doctor.

They got out of the elevator and started walking down the halls. Maria looked into the empty rooms wondering what had happened to the rest of the staff, surely Jenner couldn't be the only one left?.

"Are we underground?" Carol shifted uncomfortably as her grip tightened around her daughter.

"Yes why? Claustrophobic?" The doctor asked to which Carol nodded "just try not to think about it"

The group continued walking until they reached a big room filled with computers. Maria looked around with furrowed brows, the place looked practically deserted from what she could tell. She couldn't believe that only one person had made it.

"Is it just you here?" Maria broke the silence. It was clear that the rest of the group was thinking the same as they were all looking round in confusion.

"What about that person he was talking too, Vi?" Lori asked with a glimmer of hope in her voice. However that hope was soon gone after Jenner answered,

"No it's just me" he cleared his throat nervously before speaking again "Vi say hello to our guests, tell them welcome"

"Hello guests, welcome" a robotic woman's voice sounded in the room. Maria felt her stomach drop as the robotic voice e spoke to them. Was this really it? Was this supposed to be their sanctuary? That flicker of hope that Maria had when entering the building was slowly starting to dissolve. She couldn't believe that they traveled all this way for this but at least it was safe. Sophia and Carl seemed to feel comfortable which helped put Maria's mind at rest, for now anyway.

Jenner led them into another room and one by one the group had their blood taken. When it was Maria's turn she didn't even flinch, this was nothing to her just a small needle. She had endured worse pain in her twenty one years on this earth, over the years she had learnt not to flinch, it just made it worse.

Andrea was the last to get her blood taken, upon standing up the older woman almost fell back down again. Luckily Jacquie was there to steady the weak Andrea. Maria had to look away, sometimes looking at Andrea reminded her of Amy and the guilt she felt over the girls death.

"Is she okay?" Jenner asked looking at Andrea with concern.

"She hasn't eaten in days, none of us have" Jacquie responded while guiding Andrea to sit down. Jenner looked at the group before telling them to follow him.

Jenner lead them into a dining area slash kitchen. Maria's mouth opened in shock upon seeing all the food that the man had. With jenners permission the group gathered food they wanted and started cooking. When the had all finished the group sat at a large table together, Maria sat inbetween Daryl and Glenn.

Daryl had managed to find the alcohol which came as no surprise to Maria. She debated having a glass, she was never allowed to drink at home afraid of what might happen but she wasn't at home anymore. Maria said screw it and grabbed the wine pouring herself a glass.

Daryl looked at his younger sister in shock before smiling slightly and ruffling her hair. "Never seen you drink before little sis"

"Yeah well it's the end of the world so I thought why the hell not live a little" Maria clinked her glass with Daryl's bottle of whisky before taking a sip. She grimaced slightly at the taste but upon having another she determined that it wasn't actually that bad. Maria let out a soft laugh as she saw Carl ask his mother for some wine after seeing her drink it.

"You know kids these days in Italy and France have some wine" Dale stated. Maria thought that she'd never seen the old man this happy in the months she had known him. In fact most of the group were laughing along with the conversation. At this moment in time she felt relaxed, she felt like nothing could ruin this perfect moment.

Lori had finally given in to letting Carl have a taste of wine, the young boy took a sip and immediately cringed at the taste. Everyone laughed at the young boys reaction even Daryl. Daryl was clearly drunk but Maria didn't mind, she was just happy that he was actually smiling for a change. Seeing Daryl smile was a rare sight.

"You should stick to soda pop there bud" Shane joked giving a weak smile to the young boy. Maria couldn't help but feel like there was something off with Shane, she'd felt it from the moment she met him but even more so now that Rick had arrived.

Maria's thoughts were interrupted by Daryl's booming voice in her ear "not you, I wanna see how red your face can get" Daryl slapped an embarrassed looking Glenn on the back before turning to her. "You too sis, I ain't ever seen you drunk before".

Maria rolled her eyes but allowed her brother to fill up her wine glass. She was starting to feel the effects while sipping at her second glass, Glenn looked about the same as she did at this stage.

"It appears we have yet to thank our host properly" Rick said standing up swaying slightly.

"He is more than just our host" T-Dog raised his glass of wine as the rest of the group raised their glasses shouting "here! Here!"

"Boo ya!" Daryl exclaimed raising his bottle in the air. Everyone laughed along with him. Maria smiled at her brother who brought her into a one armed hug.

Maria was finishing off her food, it felt like forever since she'd had a meal this good. She didn't mind what they had back at camp but it was definitely a nice change. Maria caught Glenn moving his chair closer to hers out of the corner of her eye, she turned in her seat to face him. Glenn was on his third glass of wine and he was on his way to being drunk if he kept it up.

"Hey Mia me and T are gonna play a game of cards later, want to join" he slurred with a big grin on his face.

"What are we playing?" Maria tilted her head waiting for Glenn's answer

"Uh poker I think"

"Okay, sounds fun" Maria wasn't going to tell them how good she actually was at poker, that would spoil all the fun. Before the apocalypse playing poker was one of the ways she used to get money for new clothes or school supplies. It was also one of the few things her and Merle actually bonded over, he taught her before he went off to the army.

Maria looked at Glenn who was smiling at her, she'd never really had friends back home. Although there was one boy who she used to be best friends with for a few years he was like a brother to her, but he ended up abandoning her like everyone else. Maria shook the thoughts out of her head and took a large gulp of wine deciding that she wasn't going to think about that now, now was a time to celebrate not dwell on the past.

"So when are you going to tell us what exactly happened here doc" Shane spoke loudly causing the room to fall silent. Maria groaned leave it to Shane to ruin the mood.

"Shane not now we're celebrating" Rick said in a stern voice while glaring slightly at his friend.

"Well that's why we're here isn't it? We came here for answers but instead we find one man. Why?" Shane looked at Jenner who looked like this was a topic he would rather not discuss. The doctor shifted in his chair before explaining,

"Well when everything started to go...bad most people just up and left. I guess they wanted to be with their families. But most...most couldn't even face walking out the door. They uh they opted out" Jenner looked down in sadness and Maria felt bad for the man.

"But you didn't leave, why?" Andrea spoke up for the first time.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good". The room was plunged into silence as the doctors words sank in. Glenn took a large sip of wine before addressing Shane "You are such a buzzkill man"

The group finished off their meals in mostly silence before Jenner offered to show them where they would be sleeping. "So most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. Their are cots and couches for you to sleep on. There's a rec room for the kids, just don't plug anything in okay"

The group continued to walk down the corridor, Maria peeked into one of the rooms and saw it was pretty spacious although it looked like they'd have to double up. "Oh and when you shower go easy on the hot water"

"Oh god" Maria mumbled in awe, she couldn't remember the last time she actually had a hot shower. Glen appeared to be just as happy as she was, smiling brightly at the idea.

The group soon split up to go into there rooms, Maria promised to meet Glenn and T back in the dining room after they had all showered for that card game. Maria was going to share a room with her brother, she quickly put her stuff inside before grabbing a change of clothes and heading for the shower, locking the door behind her.

Maria turned on the water and stripped out of her dirty clothes. Stepping into the water she left out a sigh as the hot water ran over her body, God she could stay in there for hours. However she knew that there was probably limited hot water so she quickly washed her hair and body before just standing in the stream of hot water for a moment, she just needed a moment to savour the feel of hot water on her skin.

Getting out the shower she dried off before putting on some comfy clothes consisting of black leggings and a oversized T-Shirt. Looking in the mirror Maria could hardly believe that the person staring back at her was actually her. She looked thinner and her bangs were starting to grow out, she almost looked like a completely different person.

Banging at the door startled Maria out of her thought "come on Maria stop hogging the shower" Daryl called from the other side. She rolled her eyes before picking up the dirty clothes and unlocking the door "finally, God it's like being back at home" Daryl mumbled as he pushed past her.

Maria huffed out a small laugh putting the clothes into her bag before heading out the room to find Glenn and T-Dog. As Maria was walking she couldn't help but think of everything the group had been through to get here, all the loss and pain. She still wasn't fully comfortable in this place something still felt off to her, but that wasn't going to stop her enjoying the time they had here because for once she actually felt happy. What worried her more than anything was how long that happiness was actually going to last.

* * *

 **Note**

 _This story has reached 100 followers! I can't believe it thank you all so much! Here is another chapter for you all, hope you enjoy it. I know it's not that long but the next chapter will be up soon. The next chapter is going to have some Maria/Glenn bonding time which I'm excited to write._

 **Jestalnaker94000** \- _I haven't actually thought about adding them in to be honest, maybe I will in later seasons._

 **Springborn** \- _aw that's okay :) thank you for your review_

 _Thank you to everyone that has followed, favourited and reviewed this story!_

 _\- Emily x_


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